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Exclusive: Ali Afshar’s Esx Entertainment has added Lou Diamond Phillips to the cast of Casa Grande: The Movie, a feature to the original 2023 Prime Video series.

Casa Grande explores the intertwining lives of Northern California farmland families at the turn of the century, with an upstairs/downstairs take on themes of class, immigration, culture and family. The movie continues the journey of the Clarkmans and the Morales families who continue to battle and love over the land. The series was created by Lauren Swickard, Ava Rettke and Afshar. The movie is written by Juan Pablo Arias Muños, Swickard, Sherell Jackson and Alex Ranarivelo.

EP Afshar said, “Think Yellowstone meets Downton Abbey but 25% in Spanish.”

Phillips joins a cast that includes Madison Lawlor, John Pyper Ferguson, Christina Moore, Javier Bolanos, Lauren Escandon, Daniel Mora and Kate Mansi as well as new additions Swickard and Shalim Ortiz.

Muños directs repping his...

Violet and Madeleine McGraw, two sisters who are known for horror films such as “M3GAN,” “The Black Phone,” “Doctor Sleep” and “The Haunting of Hill House,” are leaving the scares behind for their next film.

Described as “Home Alone” meets “Die Hard,” the untitled holiday-set action film begins shooting this April in Las Vegas. Shaun Piccinino (Netflix’s “A California Christmas”) is directing the movie from a script by John Ducey (Netflix’s “A Hollywood Christmas”). Ali Afshar, Daniel Aspromonte and Christina Moore will produce the film. Violet, Madeline and their mother Jackie McGraw will also serve as producers.

Afshar, whose company Esx Entertainment has operated on the Warner Bros. lot for the past decade, will also produce a film adaptation of the television series “Casa Grande.” Production will commence in March around Lake Tahoe, Reno and Carson City.

“Casa Grande,” a bilingual limited series that follows California’s migrant workforce,...

Hey you, buckle up for a whirlwind romance ride featuring Josh Swickard (Chase from General Hospital) and his better half, Lauren Swickard! Both Lauren and her husband are in the entertainment industry—she’s a multitasking marvel as an actor, writer, and producer, while Josh proudly dons the hats of an actor and producer. This dynamic duo […]

The post Josh and Lauren Swickard Talk Becoming A Power Couple appeared first on Soap Opera News.

Madeleine McGraw and her sister Violet McGraw have had separate successes in the horror genre, with Madeleine having a standout role in The Black Phone and Violet dealing with M3GAN (plus playing roles in the Mike Flanagan projects The Haunting of Hill House and Doctor Sleep). Now, they’ll be facing horrors together in The Curse of the Necklace, which is set to be released through the Tubi streaming service this Friday, October 18th. Ahead of that date, a trailer for the film has arrived online and can be seen in the embed above.

Directed by Juan Pablo Arias Munoz from a screenplay by John Ducey, The Curse of the Necklace follows the Davis family, who navigate through tough times in the 1960s. Laura Davis is separated from her husband Frank due to unpredictable temper fueled by alcohol. As she returns to work as a nurse, her daughters, 11-year-old Ellen & 16-year-old Judy,...

General Hospital star Josh Swickard took to Instagram to share a sweet message to his wife, Lauren, and beg her to come home. Keep reading for all the details.

Chase & Dante Butt Heads on General Hospital

Josh Swickard has played police officer Harrison Chase on General Hospital since 2018. The character is in a relationship with Brook Lynn Quartermaine and they recently got married. With his father passing away and brother Finn in rehab, Chase is basically alone in town. But he has his partner and friend, Dante.

But spoilers indicate that the two buddies are at odds over John “Jagger” Cates’ death and who is responsible. Viewers know that Dante’s father, Sonny, murdered the FBI agent in cold blood. The Port Charles Pd are on the case and it’s only a matter of time before Sonny is implicated. What will that do to Chase’s relationships, including his friendship with Dante?...

Josh Swickard is the star of some of Netflix’s most-loved Christmas movies, including the new film Holiday in the Vineyards and the A California Christmas franchise.

Fans who are watching the new movie are likely wondering if Josh is single or married in real life.

Well, if you’ve watched the A California Christmas movies, then you’re definitely familiar with his wife!

Keep reading to find out more…

Josh is married to Lauren Swickard, who not only stars in the A California Christmas movies with him… she also wrote them.

Josh has been playing Harrison Chase on the ABC soap opera series General Hospital since 2018 and Lauren recently joined the cast as well. She played Nurse Janice on the soap!

The couple are parents to daughter Savannah and son Arthur. They recently revealed that they bought a farm and left Los Angeles behind.

Check out some of the family’s Instagram posts below…...

To celebrate the release of Casa Grande, we spoke with the amazing cast and filmmakers of the show – a whopping sixteen people!

Casa Grande follows the lives of rich Southern family dynasties and the immigrant families who work on their farms as they deal with power plays and Ice.

We spoke about wrangling such a huge talented cast as well as working on an actual, working (and smelly) dairy farm!

The cast is interviewed for Casa Granda, coming to Amazon Freevee. The ensemble cast consists of John Pyper-Ferguson, Christina Moore (90210), Madison Lawlor (Juniper), Karen Bethzabe (Babylon), Javier Bolaños (Runt), Raquel Dominguez (Chicago Med), James Marsters (Buffy The Vampire Slayer), Emmy-winner Kate Mansi (Days of Our Lives), Daniel Edward Mora (Coco), Loren Escandon (The Baxters), Keith Miller (Red Ruby), and Laura Alemán (Cleaners). It is directed by Gabriela Tagliavini (Despite Everything), Showrunner and Co-Creator Lauren Swickard (A California Christmas), Co-Creator and...

According to Smithsonian Magazine, the definition of the American Dream has — for better and worse — changed significantly since the inception of the phrase. Whereas the original meaning pertained to "a dream of equality, justice, and democracy for the nation," it is now more commonly associated with one's individual wealth and achievement. In terms of cinema, the pursuit of the American Dream has over the years become a popular framework to tell stories of dreaming big, perseverance, and the importance of work ethic. Even further, as America has become a beacon of economic opportunity, it's no wonder then that, by extension, narratives about the immigrant experience increasingly allude to this grander, capitalistic chase.

This view of the American Dream through the lens of migrant workers is the foundation of Amazon Freevee's newest series, Casa Grande, starring John Pyper-Ferguson, Christina Moore, Kate Mansi, James Marsters, Madison Lawlor, Javier Bolaños, Karen Bethzabe,...

Amazon Freevee has announced that it will stream Casa Grande, a bilingual limited series that examines the everyday realities and conflicts between California’s migrant workforce and the landowners who reap the profits.

Created by Lauren Swickard (A California Christmas) and Ali Afshar, Casa Grande follows the intertwining lives of various families in the farmlands of Northern California and is described as an “upstairs/downstairs story transposed from turn-of-the century English countryside to rural America.” It stars John Pyper-Ferguson, Christina Moore, Madison Lawlor (Juniper), Karen Bethzabe (Babylon), Javier Bolaños (All American), Raquel Dominguez (Chicago Med), James Marsters (Buffy The Vampire Slayer), Kate Mansi (Days of Our Lives), Daniel Edward Mora (Coco), Loren Escandon (The Baxters), and Ali Afshar (He’s Just Not That Into You).

All five one-hour episodes of the English and Spanish language limited series will premiere on Monday, May 1.

“We...

Amazon Freevee has landed the exclusive first-run U.S. rights to “Casa Grande,” a bilingual limited series that follows the tales of California’s hardworking, often undocumented migrant workforce, as well as the wealthy landowners in Northern California.

The series, which consists of five one-hour episodes, premieres May 1 on Freevee. Lauren Swickard (“A California Christmas”) and Ali Afshar created “Casa Grande,” which comes from Afshar’s Esx Entertainment shingle.

Series stars include John Pyper-Ferguson, Christina Moore, Madison Lawlor (“Juniper”), Karen Bethzabe (“Babylon”), Javier Bolaños (“All American”), Raquel Dominguez (“Chicago Med”), James Marsters (“Buffy The Vampire Slayer”), Kate Mansi (“Days of Our Lives”), Daniel Edward Mora (“Coco”), Loren Escandon (“The Baxters”) and Ali Afshar (“He’s Just Not That Into You”).

Latin filmmaker Gabriela Tagliavini (“Despite Everything”) directed the series; Swickard serves as showrunner and also wrote the series with Alex Ranarivelo and Michael Cruz. Other executive producers include Ava Rettke and Daniel Aspromonte.

Producer Ali Afshar and Esx Entertainment has become a big supplier of holiday movies for HBO Max with count ’em, three coming up: two on Thanksgiving — Holiday Harmony and A Christmas Mystery and one one on Dec. 1, A Hollywood Christmas.

Holiday Harmony follows singer/songwriter Gail (Annelise Cepero) who lands an opportunity to compete for a once-in-a-lifetime shot at the big time, and heads cross country—until she breaks down in Harmony Springs, Oklahoma. With just two weeks to get to the iHeartRadio Christmas Eve performance of her dreams, she takes the advice of local Jack-of-all-trades, Jeremy (Jeremy Sumpter), and takes on a group of misfit kids hoping to perform in a Christmas Eve Gala of their own. Gail and Jeremy grow close, but if she’s going to fulfill her lifelong dream, she may have to leave him and the town she’s grown to love behind. Brooke Shields...

Exclusive: We hear that four holiday movies have received HBO Max release dates as of Wednesday: Legendary’s Christmas Story sequel, A Christmas Story Christmas for November 17 this year, and three yuletide titles from Esx Entertainment: Holiday Harmony and A Christmas Mystery both on November 24 and A Hollywood Christmas on December 1.

A Christmas Story Christmas from director Clay Kaytis and producers Irwin Zwilling, Marc Toberoff, Cale Boyter, Jay Ashenfelter, Peter Billingsley and Vince Vaughn follows Ralphie, who is all grown up now. He must deal with Christmas and all that comes with it, this time as a dad. Peter Billingsley reprises his role as Ralphie. Erinn Hayes, Julianna Layne, River Drosche, Rd Robb and Scott Schwartz along with Zack Ward and Julie Hagerty also star.

The romantic drama Holiday Harmony from producers Ali Afshar, Lauren Swickard and Daniel Aspromonte, and directed by Shaun Paul Piccinino, follows singer-songwriter Gail, who...

With the help of a de-aged and reanimated legendary Jedi, Disney Plus’ “The Mandalorian” finally triumphed over visual comfort food favorite, “The Office.”

For the week of Dec. 14 — in which the season 2 finale of the “Star Wars” spinoff series delivered a healthy heap of fanservice in its surprise cameo and plot twist reveal — “The Mandalorian” blasted off to the top spot of Nielsen’s Top 10 programs list, edging out the mid-aughts workplace sitcom led by Steve Carell. This win marks the first time that a non-Netflix show landed at number one on Nielsen’s streaming ranker. “The Mandalorian” also set a weekly record for the Disney Slus series, scoring around 1.34 billion minutes of viewing time.

“The Office” continued its steady audience growth leading into its concluding week on the platform before migrating to NBCUniversal’s streaming service, Peacock, garnering 1.31 billion minutes of viewing time across its nine seasons.

Like the previous week,...

The festival season is here and it is time to embrace Yuletide spirits. With cinemas yet to draw audience confidence fully, Ott platforms are going all-out to add a Christmas sparkle that celebrate the season of Santa Clause with these Christmas movies and web series.

As we gear up to binge on Christmas, snuggled in a blanket with a cup of hot chocolate, we list new Christmas movie attractions that toast a happy ending to the year, and a good cheer.

Operation Christmas Drop

The film is about a political aide falling for a big-hearted air force pilot while looking to shut down his tropical base and its airborne Christmas tradition. The Netflix film stars Kat Graham, Alexander Ludwig, and Virginia Madsen.

A California Christmas

The Netflix film follows a wealthy real estate heir who poses as a ranch hand to get a hardworking farmer to sell her family's land.

After the unexpected popularity of the new Netflix movie “A California Christmas,” the holiday romantic comedy is getting a sequel.

Ali Afshar’s Esx Entertainment, the production company behind the film, has fast tracked pre-production for the follow-up, which will be titled “California Christmas: City Lights.” Filming is expected to begin in early 2021 in various parts of northern California, including Petaluma, Sonoma County and surrounding areas.

Netflix doesn’t provide streamlined viewing metrics for its movies or television shows, but “A California Christmas” appears to be a breakout hit on the streamer’s charts. The feel-good film, which premiered on Dec. 14, ranked No. 1 in the U.S. for a week and has remained in the top 10 since. According to Forbes, “A California Christmas” beat out Ryan Murphy’s musical “The Prom,” which stars Meryl Streep, James Corden and Nicole Kidman, as well as perennial favorites like “How the Grinch Stole Christmas...

Warner Bros. has picked up the worldwide sales rights to Esx Entertainment’s political drama series “Casa Grande,” which award-winning Argentine director Gabriela Tagliavini (“How to Break Up With Your Douchebag”) has been tapped to direct.

Warner Bros. International Television Distribution will handle international sales while Warner Bros. Television Group does domestic.

Inspired by true events, the dramatic series of five one-hour episodes follows several families in the farmland of Northern California as it navigates universal themes of class, immigration, culture and family.

“There’s a war about race in our country taking place right now, and we decided to take the bull by the horns,” said Tagliavini, adding: “We show in provocative scenes how hate and violence are originated by fear.”

“I’m proud to be part of this political series; this controversial show will have people talking,” she asserted.

John Pyper-Ferguson (“The Last Ship”) and Christina Moore (“Claws...

Director Lasse Hallstrom discusses his new romantic thriller Safe Haven, in theaters February 14

Director Lasse Hallstr&#246m has had as long and diverse a career as practically any director working in and out of Hollywood today. He has been nominated for three Oscars, two for his work as a writer and director on My Life as a Dog and another for directing The Cider House Rules. He has also directed beloved films such as What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Chocolat, and, more recently, the Nicholas Sparks adaptation Dear John and Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. The director returns to the world of author Nicholas Sparks for his latest drama Safe Haven, opening in theaters nationwide February 14. I recently had the chance to speak with the filmmaker over the phone about finding such a talented cast (Julianne Hough, Josh Duhamel, Cobie Smulders, David Lyons), shooting in the actual North Carolina town of Southport,...

Author Nicholas Sparks takes us inside his latest adaptation Safe Haven, arriving in theaters on Valentine's Day

Since 1996, Nicholas Sparks has become a publishing sensation, authoring 16 widely-successful romance novels (and one non-fiction book), eight of which have been adapted into movies, including hits such as A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, Dear John, and last year's The Lucky One. The latest of those adaptations is director Lasse Hallstr&#246m's Safe Haven, opening in theaters, fittingly, on Valentine's Day. However, fans looking for another typical Nicholas Sparks-style romance will be in for a bit of a surprise with this hybrid of a tender love story and a gripping thriller.

The story centers on Katie (Julianne Hough), a troubled Boston woman who leaves town in a hurry, catching a southbound bus down the Atlantic coast before the police close in. Katie discovers the sleepy town of Southport, North Carolina, where she...

Actress Julianne Hough discusses her role in the Nicholas Sparks adaptation Safe Haven, opening in theaters February 14

Julianne Hough's wide-ranging talents were first put on display as a dancer in shows like Show Me the Money and the ABC reality juggernaut Dancing with the Stars. It wasn't long before the silver screen came calling, as she landed roles in music-themed projects Burlesque, Footloose, and Rock of Ages. Julianne Hough's new drama Safe Haven gives fans both a glimpse at her dramatic acting chops, and a Nicholas Sparks adaptation that isn't just a straight-up romance.

The actress portrays Katie, a troubled young woman who flees from Boston to start fresh in a peaceful North Carolina town. When she finally starts to let her guard down, and gets closer with a local shopkeeper (Josh Duhamel), her dangerous past comes back to haunt her. I recently had the chance to speak...

This Valentine's Day, get swept away by the romantic thriller Safe Haven, based on the best-selling novel by Nicholas Sparks and starring sexy on-screen couple Julianne Hough and Josh Duhamel. We have six new clips from this stirring drama about a troubled young woman seeking to reclaim her life and find new love. Watch as these two lovebirds become acquainted and learn to live again. We're also throwing in a bonus featurette focusing on actress Julianne Hough. Consider it our Valentine to you.

Safe Haven - Julianne Hough Featurette

Safe Haven - Don't Need Help

Safe Haven - Perfect Day

Safe Haven - Kitchen Floor

Safe Haven - Can I Help You?

Safe Haven - Empty Canvas

Safe Haven - Running in the Rain

Safe Haven comes to theaters February 14th, 2013 and stars Julianne Hough, Cobie Smulders, Josh Duhamel, David Lyons, Mimi Kirkland, Noah Lomax, Lauren York, Jasper Grey. The...

Relativity Media has provided us with a high-resolution photo gallery for Safe Haven, director Lasse Hallstr&#246m's adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks novel, arriving in theaters this Valentine's Day. Julianne Hough stars as Katie, a young woman who runs away from her troubled Boston life and starts fresh in the sleepy North Carolina town of Southport. She forms a bond with shopkeeper Alex (Josh Duhamel), but before she can start a new life, she must confront her past demons. Take a look at these photos featuring Julianne Hough, Josh Duhamel, David Lyons as the tenacious Boston cop Kevin Tierney, Cobie Smulders as Katie's new neighbor Jo, and Mimi Kirkland and Noah Lomax as Alex's children Kristen and Josh.

Safe Haven: Movie Pictures GallerySee All 58 Photos »

Safe Haven comes to theaters February 14th, 2013 and stars Julianne Hough, Cobie Smulders, Josh Duhamel, David Lyons, Mimi Kirkland, Noah Lomax, Lauren York, Jasper Grey.

If you want to spend Valentine's Day a weeping mess, then make sure to reserve your tickets for the latest Nicholas Sparks adaptation Safe Haven, which arrives on the lovers' holiday Thursday, February 14th. We have a new featurette from this romantic drama starring Josh Duhamel, Julianne Hough, and Cobie Smulders. Hear from the cast and crew as they take viewers behind-the-scenes of this thrilling and suspenseful story about one woman's attempts to love again. We also have new photos with the cast.

Safe Haven - Can't Let You Go Featurette

Safe Haven comes to theaters February 14th, 2013 and stars Cobie Smulders, Julianne Hough, Josh Duhamel, David Lyons, Noah Lomax, Mimi Kirkland, Lauren York, Mike Pniewski. The film is directed by Lasse Hallström.

Red Sea Media has assembled a robust slate in the last few months, including two new projects that the sales company has acquired worldwide sales rights for. Red Sea will be introducing the projects at the upcoming Afm, which feature A-listers and rising stars such as Jesse Eisenberg, Michael McKean, Jason Ritter, and Jess Weixler. Red Sea Media's sales office will be located at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, Suite 732.

Red Sea has acquired the offbeat romantic comedy Free Samples, which marks the feature film debut of director Jay Gammill. Written by Jim Beggarly (The Kitchen), and produced by Eben Kostbar and Joseph McKelheer for Film Harvest, the film tells the story of a law-school dropout who fills in as a server at her friend's ice cream truck, doling out free samples to locals and oddball friends alike, including a man courting her who she barely remembers from the night before.