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Future Today has inked new content licensing deals with Gravitas Ventures, Samuel Goldwyn Films and Sony Pictures that will allow it to deliver more films through its Fawesome streaming platform.

Films and shows that will be coming to the platform include “Taxi,” “Hamlet,” “Queen of the North,” “Mean Guns,” “Two Rode Together,” “The Fog” and “Silent Hours,” among others.

“Fawesome’s growing audience has come to expect engaging and entertaining content,” said David Di Lorenzo, the Senior Vice President of Content Acquisitions & Partnerships at Future Today. “Our new deals with these major studios allow us to continue to expand our premium content offering while satisfying the wants of our audience.”

A full list of titles coming to Fawesome as announced by Future Today follows below:

2036 Origin Unknown (Gravitas Ventures) Above the Shadows (Gravitas Ventures) Accident Man (Samuel Goldwyn) Another Round (Samuel Goldwyn) The Baader Meinhof Complex (Samuel...

Exclusive: Matthew Modine is the latest addition to the cast of Christopher Nolan’s anticipated film Oppenheimer for Universal Pictures.

He joins an ensemble led by Cillian Murphy which will also feature Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Rami Malek, Benny Safdie, Josh Hartnett, Dane DeHaan and Jack Quaid, as previously announced.

In Nolan’s latest, which is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and the late Martin J. Sherwin, Murphy will play the theoretical physicist of the same name, whose work on the Manhattan Project led to the invention of the atomic bomb. Details with regard to the character Modine is playing have not been disclosed.

Nolan is directing from his own script, with production taking place in New Mexico. He is also producing with Emma Thomas...

Film financier Peter Samuelson and showrunner-director Jonathan Prince have joined forces to launch PhilmCo, a production and distribution banner designed to produce socially-conscious movies and TV shows with a built-in philanthropic component.

Samuelson and Prince are working with private investors to fund the development of a range of projects that are about to be shopped to studio and network partners. The content backed by PhilmCo will focus on issues and causes that allow creative partners to build in calls to action to address the problems illustrated by the story.

Prince said issue-oriented content in the past has rarely taken the step of directly connecting audiences to charitable donations or social actions to capitalize on awareness. This will be a primary focus of PhilmCo which aims to knit together a network of appropriate nonprofit, charitable and philanthropic partners to help support each project and benefit.

“We’re all great storytellers, we...

Exclusive: Diandra Lyle, who heavily recurred on Season 1 of Secrets of Sulphur Springs, has been promoted to series regular for the second season of Disney Channel’s time-travel mystery-adventure series. Production on season two will begin next month in Louisiana.

Lyle, who appeared last year in ten of the drama’s first 11 episodes, returns as Jess Dunn, the dedicated, hardworking widow and loving, single mother of Harper (Kyliegh Curran) and Topher (Bryant Tardy). Her younger self is played by Izabela Rose (Upside-Down Magic).

Secrets of Sulphur Springs centers around 12-year-old Griffin Campbell (Preston Oliver), whose family has just uprooted their lives to take ownership of an abandoned hotel in hopes of restoring it back to a lively vacation destination. Griffin’s father, Ben, (Josh Braaten) is an old summer camp crush of Lyle’s character, Jess. Season two will take a deeper look into Harper’s family...

Matthew Modine is running for president of SAG-AFTRA again as the leader of Membership First, the union’s opposition party. Joely Fisher, a former national board member, is running for secretary treasurer as his running mate.

Modine was defeated for the presidency by Gabrielle Carteris in a highly contentious election in 2019. In that race, Carteris received 13,537 votes to Modine’s 10,683, with a third candidate, former SAG-AFTRA secretary-treasurer Jane Austin, receiving 5,048 votes. Only 21.2% of the union’s eligible members cast ballots last time.

“The union spends exorbitant amounts of our own members’ money attempting to convince us that our contracts have been successfully negotiated,” Modine said. “The truth is they fall far short of the economic conditions facing performers today. I’m running to ensure that each of the locals across the United States are truthfully and transparently represented.

“One of the biggest issues on the minds of our membership today...

Exclusive: ABC’s The Rookie has added Jason Canela to its upcoming season three in a recurring role.

Canela will play Cesar Madrigal, the son of criminal royalty who is impetuous, entitled and in line to take over his father’s empire. He will first appear in the upcoming episode titled “Brave Heart.”

Created by Alexi Hawley, The Rookie stars Nathan Fillion as John Nolan, the oldest rookie at the Los Angeles Police Department. The show, which also stars Mekia Cox, Alyssa Diaz, Richard T. Jones, Titus Makin, Melissa O’Neil and Eric Winter, is produced by Entertainment One (eOne) and ABC Signature.

Hawley executive produces with Mark Gordon, Nathan Fillion, Michelle Chapman, Jon Steinberg, Bill Norcross and Terence Paul Winter.

Canela, who is also a singer and dancer, made his television debut in Telemundo’s Donta Esta Elisa before appearing in telenovelas Cosita Linda and Ruta 35. He acted in A&e’s The Glades,...

After delving into the world of Sherlock Holmes with Enola Holmes, Netflix are expanding this world further with a new series ‘The Irregulars’ which now has a teaser trailer to whet your supernatural appetite.

Set in Victorian London, the series follows a gang of troubled street teens who are manipulated into solving crimes for the sinister Doctor Watson and his mysterious business partner, the elusive Sherlock Holmes. As the crimes take on a horrifying supernatural edge and a dark power emerges, it’ll be up to the Irregulars to come together to save not only London but the entire world.

Written and executive produced by Tom Bidwell, the series stars Thaddea Graham as Bea; Darci Shaw as Jessie; Jojo Macari as Billy; Mckell David as Spike and Harrison Osterfield as Leopold; and Clark Peters as The Linen Man.

Also in trailers – Powerful trailer drops for Shaquille O’Neal-produced film ‘Foster Boy...

Vertigo Releasing has launched a new trailer for the Lena Olin and Bruce Dern dementia drama ‘The Artist’s Wife’.

Claire (Lena Olin) lives a quiet domestic life in the Hamptons as the wife of celebrated artist Richard Smythson (Bruce Dern). Once a promising painter herself, Claire now lives in the shadow of her husband’s illustrious career. While preparing work for his final show, Richard’s moods become increasingly erratic, and he is with dementia. As his memory and behaviour deteriorate, she shields his condition from the art community while trying to reconnect him with his estranged daughter and grandson from a previous marriage. Challenged by the loss of her world as she knew it, Claire must now decide whether to stand with Richard on the sidelines or step into the spotlight herself.

Directed by Tom Dolby, the film stars Lena Olin and Bruce Dern.

Also in trailers – Powerful trailer...

Henry Loevner, Steven Kanter directed film about couple going through break-up during pandemic.

Jason Moring’s Ddi has come on board to launch worldwide sales at the EFM on BuzzFeed Studios’ pandemic comedy and upcoming SXSW selection The End Of Us.

Henry Loevner and Steven Kanter directed the film about a couple going through a break-up during a global pandemic.

It is the night of March 10, 2020 – the eve of the California lockdown – as out-of-work actor Nick and his type-a girlfriend Leah are in the throes of splitting up.

When the safer-at-home order ushers in a long period of quarantine, Leah...

The Movie Partnership has debuted a trailer for the affecting drama inspired on true events ‘Foster Boy’.

Based on writer Jay Paul Deratany’s experiences as a trial lawyer fighting for child welfare in Chicago, the film follows the trial of a for-profit Foster care agency, who puts a known sex offender into the same foster home as a lawyer’s young client, Jamal, with catastrophic results. Each man heals the other in the pursuit of justice, as they expose the horrifying corrupt agency.

Executive Producer Shaquille O’Neal says, “A lot of what you see in that film, actually happened in the courtroom and Shane shows us the trauma and crushing emotional baggage foster kids carry for the rest of their lives.”

A firm festival favourite, the film is produced by Peter Samuelson; founder of First Star, a charity that gives academic support to young adults in the care system...

The eerie backwoods journey begins when Wrong Turn arrives on Blu-ray (plus Digital) and DVD February 23 from Lionsgate. The reboot of the iconic franchise is executive produced by Martin Moszkowicz (Resident Evil franchise), Bill Bromiley, and Jonathan Saba and stars Golden Globe® Winner and Primetime Emmy® Award Nominee Matthew Modine, Emma Dumont (“The Gifted”), Charlotte Vega (American Assassin), Daisy Head (“Harlots”), and Bill Sage (“Power”). Wrong Turn will be available on Blu-ray and DVD for the suggested retail price of $21.99 and $19.98, respectively.

Backwoods terror and never-jangling suspense meet when Jen (Charlotte Vega) and a group of friends set out to hike the Appalachian Trail. Despite warnings to stick to the trail, the hikers stray off course—and cross into land inhabited by The Foundation, a hidden community of mountain dwellers who use deadly means to protect their way of life. Suddenly under siege, Jen and her friends seem headed to...

The number of films available to Oscar voters in a screening room devoted to the Best Picture category hit the 200 mark on Wednesday, which means that $2.5 million has entered the Academy coffers from films paying $12,500 each to be represented in the screening room.

The members-only Academy Screening Room hit the milestone with the addition of more than a dozen movies this week, including Fisher Stevens’ “Palmer,” Lee Daniels’ “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” John Lee Hancock’s “The Little Things,” the Russo brothers’ “Cherry,” Josh Trank’s “Capone,” the documentary “Coup 53,” the Studio Ghibli animated film “Earwig and the Witch,” the international films “Funny Boy” and “Bacarau” (neither eligible in the Oscars’ Best International Feature Film category) and some off-the-wall selections, including “Snake White – Love Endures” and “Soorarai Pottru.”

Other late additions to the screening room have included “Minari,” “Promising Young Woman,” “The White Tiger” and “Cherry,” which were not added until January.

The courtroom drama Foster Boy, starring Matthew Modine, Louis Gossett Jr. and Danny Glover, is set to open the virtual Toronto Black Film Festival on Feb. 10.

The indie, executive produced by Shaquille O’Neal and directed by Youssef Delara, will launch the 9th edition of Canada’s biggest showcase of Black cinema, organizers said on Tuesday.

And the festival will close with Mia Donovan’s Dope is Death, a documentary about Dr. Mutulu Shakur, stepfather of Tupac Shakur, and fellow Black Panthers creating the first acupuncture detoxification program in the U.S. in 1973 to help heroin addicts deal with withdrawal ...

The courtroom drama Foster Boy, starring Matthew Modine, Louis Gossett Jr. and Danny Glover, is set to open the virtual Toronto Black Film Festival on Feb. 10.

The indie, executive produced by Shaquille O’Neal and directed by Youssef Delara, will launch the 9th edition of Canada’s biggest showcase of Black cinema, organizers said on Tuesday.

And the festival will close with Mia Donovan’s Dope is Death, a documentary about Dr. Mutulu Shakur, stepfather of Tupac Shakur, and fellow Black Panthers creating the first acupuncture detoxification program in the U.S. in 1973 to help heroin addicts deal with withdrawal ...

With “Mulan” arriving on more platforms October 6 and non-premium VOD titles like “The Witches” and Amazon’s “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” later this month, the home-viewing market was on pause with no new premium titles this weekend. That didn’t stop Jessica Chastain’s “Ava,” however: It had the best showing for a non-premium title in the six months we’ve covered weekly VOD performance.

The $6.99 female-assassin action film, which debuted September 25, placed #1 at the three transactional sites and second at FandangoNow, which lists by revenue. Other recent titles like “The Outpost,” “The Tax Collector,” and “The Silencing” have thrived for multiple weeks, but none topped the charts for two weeks.

Beating out “Ava” at FandangoNow, thanks to its $19.99 price point, is “Antebellum.” In its third week, it’s also #2 at Spectrum. It fell off Apple TV and Google Play, even with less competition among premium titles.

“Alone,” budgeted far lower...

"Do you honestly think that this whole free-loading universe is out to get you? You're stuck in here, same as me." Sony Pictures has released an official trailer for an indie dramedy titled The Last Shift, which originally premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. The film is directed by Emmy-winning doc filmmaker Andrew Cohn, making his first narrative feature, and is an American story about two men struggling in the same town, while worlds apart. Richard Jenkins co-stars as a fast food worker who plans to call it quits after 38 years on the graveyard shift at Oscar's Chicken and Fish. His last weekend takes a turn while training his replacement, Jevon, played by Shane Paul McGhie. The cast includes Ed O'Neill, Allison Tolman, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, and Birgundi Baker. This looks like a humble, honest story of two people just trying to live and enjoy life. Here's...

"Why do I have to have you as my lawyer?" Gravitas Ventures has unveiled an official trailer for an indie drama titled Foster Boy, which first premiered at the Nashville Film Festival last year. Michael Trainer is a lawyer in a trial in which a for-profit foster care agency put a known sex offender into the same foster home as his client Jamal, with catastrophic results. Michael, a successful litigator with a long career in protecting corporate clients, has been blinded from recognizing the real damage they can cause. He wants nothing to do with Jamal's case until a judge forces him to accept it. As their work together reveals the horrifying depth of the corrupt and abusive for-profit foster care agency, Michael is transformed from reluctant defender to fierce warrior in the battle for justice. Presented by Shaquille O'Neal. The film stars Shane Paul McGhie as Jamal, with Matthew Modine,...

Exclusive: Gravitas Ventures is adding to its growing acquisition slate with the lastest pick-up, Foster Boy, a courtroom drama starring Matthew Modine, Oscar winner Louis Gossett Jr., Julie Benz, and Shane Paul McGhie. Gravitas has the North American distribution rights and is planning a theatrical and on-demand release on September 25.

Brenda Bakke, Amy Brenneman, Michael Beach, and Greg Germann also star in the film, which has played at a number of festivals including the International Black Film Festival, Pan African Film Festival, and Woodstock Film Festival.

Directed Youssef Delara, the pic follows Michael Trainer, a hardened corporate lawyer unwittingly dragged into an ominous trial in which a for-profit foster care agency put a known sex offender into the same foster home as his young client Jamal, resulting in catastrophic trauma and immediately altering Jamal’s future. He wants nothing to do with Jamal’s case until a Judge forces him to represent him.

It will be over at some point.

Life on Earth is not ending, except for those tragically dying, a death toll that could reach into the millions, depending on how we all behave ourselves in the weeks to come. When it is over, most of us will still be here, picking up the pieces. We know now, and we will know even better by then, that life is fragile, that we are all in this together, that the Grim Reaper is closer to our door than we probably thought, except at other people’s funerals. And there will be a massive recession causing more pain, and we’ll get through that, too.

I last rode my bike 10 days ago along a nearly deserted Mulholland Drive with a mask on, vigilant to never be closer than 20 feet from the rare fellow exercisers. Now, I pedal away on the stationary bike in the attic,...

New Jersey’s Garden State Film Festival is getting around the cancellations due to coronavirus by agreeing to live stream all the films on its lineup beginning next week.

The only catch is that to watch the films, you have to be a ticket holder to the festival.

The Garden State Film Festival, now in its 18th year, was meant to kick off in Asbury Park, NJ on March 26-29, but all industry activities, workshops and public panels have been canceled due to the spread of Covid-19. However, the festival will now live stream its program of over 240 films films across five days via its private servers at the films’ originally scheduled times.

Also Read: SXSW to Stream and Give Awards to Films From Canceled Festival

The links to the films will not be listed on YouTube or Vimeo, and the festival promises that the films cannot be pirated. And...

It’s no secret that I have suffered some losses lately. For better or worse, my pain and grief are public. But I understand the opportunity to face the pain, learn from it, and model a behavior. I wouldn’t want it any other way.

But there are hundreds of thousands of kids across the U.S. — 30,000 just in Los Angeles County – who struggle, suffer, and grieve every day, too often alone, usually unnoticed, and without much public understanding and support. They are foster kids.

Life has challenges and, as a kid, I faced my fair share. But there was someone in my life who, along with my parents, was always there for me. His name is Michael Parris, whom I affectionally call “Uncle Mike.”

Mike was a police officer in my hometown of Newark, N.J. He was a mentor and role model, and it is hard for me...

Exclusive: Shaquille O’Neal has struck a deal with 50 Central producer Back Roads Entertainment to develop scripted and non-scripted TV series.

The four-time NBA Champion, who played for six teams including Orlando Magic and La Lakers across his 19-year career, and partner Michael Parris are looking to create, develop and produce shows via a co-production deal with Back Roads and their production company Jersey Legends.

Shaq’s initial focus will be on gameshows, comedy and family entertainment for U.S. and international broadcasters. O’Neal, Parris and the Jersey Legends team will work closely with Colby Gaines, executive producer and founder of Back Roads, as well as a new development team assigned to the partnership. O’Neal, Parris and Gaines will serve as executive producers on all projects.

Cable network TNT recently ordered docuseries Shaq Life and he has previously fronted ABC reality series including Shaq’s Big Challenge and Shaq Vs.

In today’s film news roundup, buyers take rights to “The Song of Names” and “Chain of Death” while and Shaquille O’Neal becomes an executive producer for legal thriller “Foster Boy.”

Acqusitions

Sony Pictures Classics has bought U.S. rights to the music drama “The Song of Names,” starring Tim Roth and Clive Owen.

The film is directed by “The Red Violin” helmer François Girard and is produced by Robert Lantos, Lyse Lafontaine and Nick Hirschkorn. Jeffrey Caine wrote the screenplay, based on the novel by Norman Lebrecht. The original score is by Howard Shore.

The film unfolds at the start of World War II and centers on 9-year-old violin prodigy who is a Polish-Jewish refugee in London. The prodigy’s brother is devoted to him. Hours before his debut concert performance at the age of 21, he vanishes without a trace. Years later, the prodigy’s brother recognizes a...

Exclusive: Matthew Modine (Stranger Things) has been tapped as one of the leads opposite Sophia Bush in CBS’ drama pilot Surveillance, from Matt Reeves, David C. White, Patricia Riggen and 20th Century Fox TV, which will co-produce with CBS TV Studios.

The casting will not impact Modine’s duties on Netflix’s supernatural mega hit hit Stranger Stings where he plays the sinister Dr. Martin Brenner.

Written by White, with Riggen set to direct, Surveillance is described as a complex and timely spy thriller centered on the head of communications for the Nsa (Bush), a charming operative who finds her loyalties torn between protecting the government’s secrets and her own.

Modine will play Man in a Red Tie, a high level and mysterious government operative whose identity and true mission is shrouded in secrecy. In addition to Bush, he joins recently cast Catalina Sandino Moreno and Raphael Acloque.

Reeves...

Fiona Xie (Crazy Rich Asians) has inked with the Gersh Agency. The Singaporean actress plays gold-digging social climber Kitty Pong in the summer hit Crazy Rich Asians. She was with Singapore media conglomerate Mediacorp from 2001-09 and won Best Newcomer at the 2001 Star Awards. Her credits also include miniseries Serves You Right! and features The Golden Couple and Fist of Dragon, and Xie also has done ad campaigns for the likes of Ysl Beauty, Cartier and Tom Ford. She continues to be managed by Authentic Talent & Literary Management, East West Artists and Platform PR.

Anand Desai-Barochia (The Outpost) has signed with Matt Luber and Jomer Calma at Luber Roklin Management. The actor is a series regular on The Outpost, playing brewer/scientist Janzo on the CW drama whose first season wraps next week. Desai-Barochia’s TV credits also include Skins, The Fresh Beat Band, Days of Our Lives and Tyrant,...

Californication alum Evan Handler is set as a new series regular on season 6 of Power, and Mike Dopud and Monique Gabriela Curnen, who recurred in seasons 4 and 5, have been promoted to regulars for the upcoming season of Starz’s hit drama series.

Handler will play Jacob Warner, the new U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District, there to clean up one too many messes and not built to play nice. Formidable and powerful, he will use the position and authority to challenge those around him to get answers.

Dopud plays Jason Micic, a brutal and ruthless Serbian crime boss, and Tommy’s connect, with sights on expanding his network to both coasts at any cost.

Curnen plays Blanca Rodriguez, the incorruptible NYPD Internal Affairs investigator that zeroed in on Angela Valdes while conducting the investigation of the disappearance and probable murder of Detective Raymond Jones, Raina’s killer and a suspected dirty cop.

“Stranger Things” star Matthew Modine will portray a baseball coach in the independent family drama “Chance.”

John B. Crye, a distribution executive with Wrekin Hill Entertainment and Newmarket Films, makes his feature directorial debut from a screenplay by Michael P. Daly (the real-life coach) and Seth Daly. Former actor Michael Hagerty is producing under his production company, Okerty Entertainment. Filming begins June 6 in Ohio.

“Chance” is based on the life of local baseball star Chance Smith, who committed suicide in 2012 at the age of 16 following a breakup. “I’m proud to be a part of this unique project — a town coming together to work through their grief at losing a cherished member of the community by sharing their story,” Crye said.

The drama raises questions how teens communicate with each other and the responsibilities of the adults who are raising and mentoring. The script is based upon actual text messages,...

Up-and-comer Shane Paul McGhie is set to play Jamal in Paramount Players’s What Men Want, starring Taraji P. Henson as a sports agent in a male-dominated space, who when she gains the power to hear men’s thoughts and is able to shift the paradigm to her advantage as she races to sign the NBA’s next superstar. Cut to McGhie’s character — the number one pick in the draft, who is also the son of an overbearing Joe, played by Tracy Morgan. Aldis Hodge, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Phoebe Robinson, and Max Greenfield co-star. Will Packer and James Lopez are producing under the Will Packer Productions banner. The film hit theaters January 11. Will Packer and James Lopez are producing under the Will Packer Productions banner. McGhie stars in the upcoming legal thriller, Foster Boy, alongside Matthew Modine and Lou Gossett, Jr. He’s repped by Innovative.

Native American actor Forrest Goodluck...

It’s a case of art imitating life and vice versa. This month, a legal thriller about the abuse of an African-American kid in the foster system from producer Peter Samuelson (Arlington Road) is in post-production and readying for festivals. But just last week, the screenwriter for the film Foster Boy won a $45M judgment against a social services agency — the largest award in the history of the state of Illinois in a case involving the death of a toddler in the foster system.

It was a case the producer/screenwriter/lawyer Jay Paul Deratany handled himself.

But a year before Deratany even knew about the the death of 2-year-old Lavandis Hudson in the foster system, the attorney was writing a screenplay about an African-American boy who is abused by a private social services company. Deratany has been practicing law for about 30 years — 16 of them handling cases involving foster care negligence and child neglect.

“Stranger Things” star Matthew Modine is joining Uzo Aduba in the independent drama “Miss Virginia,” playing Congressman Cliff Williams.

The film, to be directed by R.J. Daniel Hanna (“Shelter”), is produced by Erin O’Connor, Rob Pfaltzgraff and Maurice Black of the Moving Picture Institute, Stacey Parks of Media Sparks Entertainment, and M. Elizabeth Hughes. The movie is set to commence production this month in Los Angeles.

Inspired by a true story, “Miss Virginia” follows a struggling inner-city single mother who moves her at-risk son from his dangerous neighborhood school to a safe — but expensive — one. Sacrificing everything but still unable to make the tuition payment, she launches a movement that could vastly improve her son’s future and that of many other children in the community.

Variety first reported Aduba’s attachment in November. She is best known for the role as Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren in the Netflix...

Sex and the City and Californication alum Evan Handler has joined Foster Boy, the Youssef Delara-directed indie drama based on a script by Jay Paul Deratany. The film stars Matthew Modine as Michael Trainer, whose life as a condescending, elitist corporate attorney is turned upside down when he's ordered to take on a pro bono case representing a 19-year-old African-American youth who was victimized when a known sexual predator was placed into his foster home. Handler will…...