News

The TV production industry continues to rebound after previous union strike delays, although many series with great hopes, continue to disappear after only one season:

ABC

$100,000 Pyramid, The (renewed)

20/20 (renewed)

American Housewife (canceled; five seasons)

American Idol (renewed)

America's Funniest Home Videos (renewed)A Million Little Things (canceled; after Season 5)Bachelor, The (renewed)

Bachelorette, The (renewed)

Bachelor in Paradise (renewed)

Baker and the Beauty (canceled; one season)

Big Sky (renewed)Black-ish (canceled; after Season 8) Bless This Mess (canceled; two seasons)Call Your Mother (canceled; one season)Card SharksCelebrity Family Feud (renewed)

Conners, The (renewed)

Dancing With The Stars (renewed)

Don't (canceled; one season)Emergence (canceled; one season)

For Life (canceled; after Season 2)

Fresh Off The Boat (canceled; six seasons)

Good Doctor, The (canceled; seven seasons) Grand Hotel (canceled; one season)

Goldbergs, The (canceled; ten seasons) Grey's Anatomy (Season 21)

Great Christmas Light Fight (renewed)

Holey Moley (canceled; after Season 4)

How To Get Away With Murder...

Die UFA entwickelt zusammen mit dem für die HBO-Serie „The White Lotus“ mit einem Emmy ausgezeichneten Produzenten die Serie „Hotel Neptun“.

Nataly Kudiabor, Geschäftsführerin und Produzentin bei UFA Fiction, ist seitens der UFA bei „Hotel Neptun“ an Bord (Credit: UFA / Sarah Eick)

In Zusammenarbeit mit dem für die HBO-Serie „The White Lotus“ mit einem Emmy ausgezeichneten Produzenten David Bernad entwickelt die UFA aktuell das Serienprojekt mit dem Arbeitstitel „Spy Hotel / Hotel Neptun“. Das gab die UFA, von deren Seite UFA-Fiction-Geschäftsführerin und -Produzentin Nataly Kudiabor das Projekt verantwortet, heute bekannt.

Darüber hinaus konnte die UFA nach eigenen Angaben für das Projekt, über das keine weiteren Details bekannt sind, die international renommierten Journalisten und Storyhunter Joshua Davis („Little America“) sowie Joshuah Bearman („Argo“) gewinnen.

The TV production industry continues to rebound after previous Covid setbacks and union strike delays, although many series with great hopes, continue to disappear after only one season:

ABC

$100,000 Pyramid, The (renewed)

20/20 (renewed)

American Housewife (canceled; five seasons)

American Idol (renewed)

America's Funniest Home Videos (renewed)A Million Little Things (canceled; after Season 5)Bachelor, The (renewed)

Bachelorette, The (renewed)

Bachelor in Paradise (renewed)

Baker and the Beauty (canceled; one season)

Big Sky (renewed)Black-ish (canceled; after Season 8) Bless This Mess (canceled; two seasons)Call Your Mother (canceled; one season)Card SharksCelebrity Family Feud (renewed)

Conners, The (renewed)

Dancing With The Stars (renewed)

Don't (canceled; one season)Emergence (canceled; one season)

For Life (canceled; after Season 2)

Fresh Off The Boat (canceled; six seasons)

Good Doctor, The (canceled; seven seasons) Grand Hotel (canceled; one season)

Goldbergs, The (canceled; ten seasons) Grey's Anatomy (Season 21)

Great Christmas Light Fight (renewed)

Holey Moley (canceled...

Exclusive: Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon have launched Winter Coat Films, which has signed a first-look deal with Sony Pictures Television to produce scripted series for streaming and cable platforms. The Oscar-nominated husband-and-wife duo have partnered with producer Dani Melia, who will serve as president of Winter Coat Films.

“Kumail and Emily are a dream team – artists who bring humanity, humor and authenticity to everything they explore,” said Katherine Pope, President Sony Pictures Television Studios. “We couldn’t be happier to support them and their newly formed production company, which we know will be hugely successful.”

Nanjiani and Gordon most recently served as executive producers on Hulu limited series Welcome to Chippendales, which earned Nanjiani an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. They also executive produced and wrote the praised Apple TV+ anthology series Little America, which ran for two seasons.

Adrianna Mitchell has been cast in the upcoming Tracy Morgan comedy series “Crutch” at Paramount+, Variety has learned exclusively.

Mitchell is the latest addition to the series’ cast, joining the recently announced Jermaine Fowler. The show was originally announced back in May with Morgan in the lead role and is said to be set in the same world as the CBS comedy “The Neighborhood.” Production is set to begin this month in New York.

The official logline for the series states, “Francois ‘Frank’ Crutchfield (Morgan), who goes by ‘Crutch,’ is a brash, yet beloved Harlem shop owner whose world is turned upside down when his highbrow son (Fowler) and free-spirited daughter (Mitchell) move back into the family home.”

Mitchell’s character is named Jamilah. She is described as “a free spirited, naturalista with a dry wit and sharp tongue. Notoriously fickle, the most consistent part of her life was her...

The TV production industry continues to rebound after previous Covid setbacks and union strike delays, although many series with great hopes, continue to disappear after only one season:

ABC

$100,000 Pyramid, The (renewed)

20/20 (renewed)

American Housewife (canceled; five seasons)

American Idol (renewed)

America's Funniest Home Videos (renewed)A Million Little Things (canceled; after Season 5)Bachelor, The (renewed)

Bachelorette, The (renewed)

Bachelor in Paradise (renewed)

Baker and the Beauty (canceled; one season)

Big Sky (renewed)Black-ish (canceled; after Season 8) Bless This Mess (canceled; two seasons)Call Your Mother (canceled; one season)Card SharksCelebrity Family Feud (renewed)

Conners, The (renewed)

Dancing With The Stars (renewed)

Don't (canceled; one season)Emergence (canceled; one season)

For Life (canceled; after Season 2)

Fresh Off The Boat (canceled; six seasons)

Good Doctor, The (canceled; seven seasons) Grand Hotel (canceled; one season)

Goldbergs, The (canceled; ten seasons) Grey's Anatomy (Season 21)

Great Christmas Light Fight (renewed)

Holey Moley (canceled...

Pachinko is a sweeping historical drama series created by Soo Hugh. Based on a 2017 novel of the same name by author Min Jin Lee, the Apple TV+ series follows four generations of a Korean family, beginning with Sunja as she leaves her family in Korea under Japanese rule to move to Koreatown, Osaka to start a new life but struggles with discrimination in Japanese society. Pachinko stars Youn Yuh-jung, Soji Arai, Kim Min-ha, Yu-na, Jin Ha, Han Jun-woo, Jeong In-ji, Jung Eun-chae, Lee Min-ho, Kaho Minami, Steve Sang-Hyun Noh, Anna Sawai, Jimmi Simpson, and Kim Sung-kyu. So, if you loved the historical drama, epic romantic stories, and complex characters in Pachinko, here are some similar shows you should check out next.

Little America (Apple TV+) Credit – Apple TV+

Little America is an anthology drama series developed by Lee Eisenberg, Emily V. Gordon, and Kumail Nanjiani. Based on true stories of...

The TV production industry continues to rebound after previous Covid setbacks and union strike delays, although many series with great hopes, continue to disappear after only one season:

ABC

$100,000 Pyramid, The (renewed)

20/20 (renewed)

American Housewife (canceled; five seasons)

American Idol (renewed)

America's Funniest Home Videos (renewed)A Million Little Things (canceled; after Season 5)Bachelor, The (renewed)

Bachelorette, The (renewed)

Bachelor in Paradise (renewed)

Baker and the Beauty (canceled; one season)

Big Sky (renewed)Black-ish (canceled; after Season 8) Bless This Mess (canceled; two seasons)Call Your Mother (canceled; one season)Card SharksCelebrity Family Feud (renewed)

Conners, The (renewed)

Dancing With The Stars (renewed)

Don't (canceled; one season)Emergence (canceled; one season)

For Life (canceled; after Season 2)

Fresh Off The Boat (canceled; six seasons)

Good Doctor, The (canceled; seven seasons) Grand Hotel (canceled; one season)

Goldbergs, The (canceled; ten seasons) Grey's Anatomy (Season 21)

Great Christmas Light Fight (renewed)

Holey Moley (canceled...

Today, Apple TV+ announced Scamtown, a new Apple Original podcast premiering on August 26. This eleven-part series delves into the world of scams, ranging from the bizarre to the downright unbelievable.

Scamtown will be narrated by the self-proclaimed mayors of “Scamtown,” Emmy-nominated filmmakers James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte, who are known for Apple TV+’s Signal Podcast Award winner The Big Conn and the Webby Award-nominated McMillion$.

Each episode of Scamtown highlights a different scheme, featuring a mix of wild hustles, surprising heists, forbidden love, and explosive moments, with stories told by both the creators and the individuals who lived through them.

From an ingenious telemarketing bust and an arsonist setting fire to the city of Boston to an Italian Mafia Don’s arrest over olive oil and the escapades of a rare book thief, the true crime stories in Scamtown are stranger than fiction and filled with quirks, moral ambiguity,...

Exclusive: Clayne Crawford (Lethal Weapon) is among those set to star in Stone Creek, a psychological thriller directed and produced by Robert Enriquez (Cash for Gold).

Others in the cast of the indie include Lyndon Smith (National Treasure: Edge of History), Britney Young (Glow), Vincent Washington (Young King), Andrew J. West (The Walking Dead) and Adam Hicks (Zeke and Luther).

Shooting in Northern Minnesota, the film written by Clint Elliott follows a small-town police chief as he embarks on a hunt for a serial killer, aided by a psychic, all while trying to steer clear of suspicion himself.

Best known for starring on Fox’s Lethal Weapon, Crawford’s other TV credits include Rectify, Rogue and 24, to name just a few. Notable feature credits include Finestkind, The Killing of Two Lovers, Wristcutters: A Love Story and A Walk to Remember.

Recently starring in Disney+’s National Treasure: Edge of History,...

Belarus-born director Darya Zhuk will follow her debut feature “Crystal Swan” with “Exactly What It Seems,” a dark science fiction satire of contemporary authoritarianism.

The film – produced by Allfilm’s Volia Chajkouskaya and Ivo Felt (Estonia) and Violetta Krechetova – is based on the original short story by Tatsiana Zamirovskaya, who will serve as a co-writer. It will be shot in Belarusian, English and Russian.

Allfilm, co-founded by Felt, is also behind Oscar-nominated “Tangerines” and Klaus Häro’s “The Fencer,” nominated for a Golden Globe.

In “Exactly What It Seems,” a married couple – Nadia and Fedor – is seeking political asylum in the US. They find themselves unexpectedly teleported back to Belarus through a mysterious quantum technology created by scientists under the dictatorial regime. Hunted like criminals in the woods of their homeland, they must mend their dysfunctional relationship to secure their return to safety.

“It’s not an effects-heavy film, but...

Joe Dempsie leads a wave of new additions to the cast of “Truckload,” winner of Primetime’s Empower Fund at Cannes 2024, in partnership with Funding Futures, the funding arm of Bournemouth Film School.

Joining Dempsie are Adam Ali, Cathy Tyson and Lara McDonnell. The project, starring Jodie Whittaker, aims to champion female and non-binary filmmakers.

“Truckload,” a comedy-drama based on writer-actress Evie Jones’ real-life experience, follows Lizzie (played by Jones) as she returns to Manchester after a life-changing traffic accident. The film explores her recovery journey and the impact on her relationships.

Director Aella Jordan-Edge and producers Arpita Ashok and Victoria Emslie have rounded out the cast with Carol Starks and Angharad Bowen.

Ashok said: “As a producer, I want to continue my previous work as an advocate, platforming under-represented voices and reaching broad audiences. I see storytelling as one of our most powerful tools to achieve change. So, as...

The TV production industry continues to rebound after previous Covid setbacks and union strike delays, although many series with great hopes, continue to disappear after only one season:

ABC

$100,000 Pyramid, The (renewed)

20/20 (renewed)

American Housewife (canceled; five seasons)

American Idol (renewed)

America's Funniest Home Videos (renewed)A Million Little Things (canceled; after Season 5)Bachelor, The (renewed)

Bachelorette, The (renewed)

Bachelor in Paradise (renewed)

Baker and the Beauty (canceled; one season)

Big Sky (renewed)Black-ish (canceled; after Season 8) Bless This Mess (canceled; two seasons)Call Your Mother (canceled; one season)Card SharksCelebrity Family Feud (renewed)

Conners, The (renewed)

Dancing With The Stars (renewed)

Don't (canceled; one season)Emergence (canceled; one season)

For Life (canceled; after Season 2)

Fresh Off The Boat (canceled; six seasons)

Good Doctor, The (canceled; seven seasons) Grand Hotel (canceled; one season)

Goldbergs, The (canceled; ten seasons) Grey's Anatomy (Season 21)

Great Christmas Light Fight (renewed)

Holey Moley (canceled...

The directing career of Andy Fickman stretches back more than twenty years, with most of his credits coming in the comedy genre. Among those credits are Who’s Your Daddy?, Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical, She’s the Man, The Game Plan, Race to Witch Mountain, You Again, Parental Guidance, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, Playing with Fire, Christmas Again, Heathers: The Musical, and One True Loves. With his latest film, Fickman has ventured into the horror genre for the first time – and thanks to Quiver Distribution, we’re going to have the chance to see the result when Don’t Turn Out the Lights receives a VOD and limited theatrical release on September 6th! For now, a trailer has arrived online, and that can be viewed in the embed above.

Written and directed by Fickman, Don’t Turn Out the Lights was inspired by real life events. The film has the...

The TV production industry continues to rebound after previous Covid setbacks and union strike delays, although many series with great hopes, continue to disappear after only one season:

ABC

$100,000 Pyramid, The (renewed)

20/20 (renewed)

American Housewife (canceled; five seasons)

American Idol (renewed)

America's Funniest Home Videos (renewed)A Million Little Things (canceled; after Season 5)Bachelor, The (renewed)

Bachelorette, The (renewed)

Bachelor in Paradise (renewed)

Baker and the Beauty (canceled; one season)

Big Sky (renewed)Black-ish (canceled; after Season 8) Bless This Mess (canceled; two seasons)Call Your Mother (canceled; one season)Card SharksCelebrity Family Feud (renewed)

Conners, The (renewed)

Dancing With The Stars (renewed)

Don't (canceled; one season)Emergence (canceled; one season)

For Life (canceled; after Season 2)

Fresh Off The Boat (canceled; six seasons)

Good Doctor, The (canceled; seven seasons) Grand Hotel (canceled; one season)

Goldbergs, The (canceled; ten seasons) Grey's Anatomy (Season 21)

Great Christmas Light Fight (renewed)

Holey Moley (canceled...

Exclusive: After a long run at NBCUniversal, writer, producer and director Alan Yang has signed a big overall deal with Warner Bros. Television Group. Under the multi-year pact, he will develop and produce new TV projects exclusively for the studio.

Yang had been at NBCU for his entire TV career to date, which spans more than two decades, starting with a job as a writer-producer on NBC’s Late Call With Carson Daly. He went on to work as a writer on NBC/Universal TV’s Parks and Recreation, rising to co-executive producer and making his directorial debut, and also wrote on NBC/Uni TV’s The Good Place.

At Universal TV, where Yang had been under overall deals for the past eight years, he co-created, executive produced and directed several series: Netflix’s Master Of None, for which he won an Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series Emmy Award alongside fellow co-creator Aziz Ansari,...

The TV production industry continues moving along after previous Covid setbacks and union strike delays, although many series with great hopes, continue to disappear after only one season:

ABC

$100,000 Pyramid, The (renewed)

20/20 (renewed)

American Housewife (canceled; five seasons)

American Idol (renewed)

America's Funniest Home Videos (renewed)A Million Little Things (canceled; after Season 5)Bachelor, The (renewed)

Bachelorette, The (renewed)

Bachelor in Paradise (renewed)

Baker and the Beauty (canceled; one season)

Big Sky (renewed)Black-ish (canceled; after Season 8) Bless This Mess (canceled; two seasons)Call Your Mother (canceled; one season)Card SharksCelebrity Family Feud (renewed)

Conners, The (renewed)

Dancing With The Stars (renewed)

Don't (canceled; one season)Emergence (canceled; one season)

For Life (canceled; after Season 2)

Fresh Off The Boat (canceled; six seasons)

Good Doctor, The (renewed)

Grand Hotel (canceled; one season)

Goldbergs, The (renewed)

Grey's Anatomy (Season 18)

Great Christmas Light Fight (renewed)

Holey Moley (canceled; after Season 4)

How To Get Away With Murder...

BookTok just might make it all the way to the Oscars.

Academy Award winner Siân Heder is confirmed to be adapting Gabrielle Zevin’s bestselling novel “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” for the big screen. The feature is Heder’s latest buzzy project post-Oscar win for “Coda,” which took the title of Best Picture in 2022.

“Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” will be written by Mark Bomback, who penned the script based off a draft penned by author Zevin. The novelist will serve as an executive producer on the Paramount Pictures release.

The film is a modern love story that spans three decades between friends Sam and Sadie who both work in the cutthroat video game industry. The novel — exploring the challenges and thrills of lifelong friendship — was published in 2022 and has sold more than 2.8 million copies worldwide while spending 50 weeks on the New York Times bestsellers list.

Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey,...

Siân Heder, director of best picture winner “Coda,” has signed on to direct the adaptation of “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” for Paramount Pictures.

The bestselling 2022 novel by Gabrielle Zevin was adapted by Mark Bomback from a draft written by Zevin.

The sprawling and ambitious story revolves around two friends who meet as children in Los Angeles and reunite as adults in Cambridge to create video games, “finding an intimacy in digital storytelling that eludes them in their real lives,” the synopsis reads. “The relationship explores the intimacy, passion, and heartbreak of creative collaboration, set against the visually groundbreaking worlds brought to life by the rising video game industry of the 1990s-2000s.”

In addition to covering several decades and cities, the book includes unique scenes such as sequences set inside videogames. It struck a nerve with readers for its creative approach to combining a love story over the years...

Siân Heder, whose Coda won the Oscar for best picture in 2022, has signed on to direct Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Paramount Pictures’ adaptation of the best selling novel by Gabrielle Zevin.

Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey and Isaac Klausner will produce via their book-friendly Temple Hill banner.

Described as a modern love story that spans three decades against a video game industry backdrop, the story tells of two friends, Sam and Sadie, who meet as children and reunite as adults, finding stardom in the cutthroat industry.

Per the dust jacket, “Sam and Sadie are brilliant, successful, and rich, but these qualities won’t protect them from their own creative ambitions or the betrayals of their hearts.” The book “examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love.”

The book, published by 2022, became a...

Exclusive: Paramount Pictures highly-anticipated adaptation of the best-seller Tomorrow, And Tomorrow, And Tomorrow is gaining some serious momentum as Oscar winner Siân Heder has been tapped to direct the adaptation which is based on the New York Times best-selling novel of the same name by Gabrielle Zevin. Mark Bomback wrote the script based off a draft penned by Zevin. Temple Hill’s Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey and Isaac Klausner will produce. Zevin will executive Produce.

The novel is a modern love story about two friends who meet as children and reunite as adults to create video games, finding an intimacy in digital storytelling that eludes them in their real lives. The relationship explores the intimacy, passion, and heartbreak of creative collaboration, set against the visually groundbreaking worlds brought to life by the rising video game industry of the 1990s-2000s.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow has sold over 2.8 million copies...

Today, Apple TV+ revealed the trailer for “The Big Cigar,” the upcoming limited series led by André Holland, who stars alongside Alessandro Nivola, Tiffany Boone, P. J. Byrne, Marc Menchaca, Moses Ingram, Rebecca Dalton, Olli Haaskivi, Jordane Christie and Glynn Turman. “The Big Cigar” makes its global debut on May 17 with the first two episodes, followed by new episodes every Friday through June 14.

Based on the magazine article of the same name by Joshuah Bearman (“Argo”), who also serves as executive producer, “The Big Cigar” tells the incredible true story of Hollywood revolution meeting social revolution. It’s a wild caper about Black Panther founder Huey P. Newton escaping from the FBI to Cuba with the assistance of famed producer Bert Schneider in an impossibly elaborate plan — involving a fake movie production — that goes wrong every way it possibly can.

NAACP Image Award winner Janine Sherman Barrois is the showrunner of “The Big Cigar.

The TV production industry continues to roar back after Covid setbacks and union strike delays, although many series with great hopes, disappeared after only one season:

ABC

$100,000 Pyramid, The (renewed)

20/20 (renewed)

American Housewife (canceled; five seasons)

American Idol (renewed)

America's Funniest Home Videos (renewed)A Million Little Things (canceled; after Season 5)Bachelor, The (renewed)

Bachelorette, The (renewed)

Bachelor in Paradise (renewed)

Baker and the Beauty (canceled; one season)

Big Sky (renewed)Black-ish (canceled; after Season 8) Bless This Mess (canceled; two seasons)Call Your Mother (canceled; one season)Card SharksCelebrity Family Feud (renewed)

Conners, The (renewed)

Dancing With The Stars (renewed)

Don't (canceled; one season)Emergence (canceled; one season)

For Life (canceled; after Season 2)

Fresh Off The Boat (canceled; six seasons)

Good Doctor, The (renewed)

Grand Hotel (canceled; one season)

Goldbergs, The (renewed)

Grey's Anatomy (Season 18)

Great Christmas Light Fight (renewed)

Holey Moley (canceled; after Season 4)

How To Get Away With Murder...

The TV production industry continues to roar back after Covid setbacks and union strike delays, although many series with great hopes have disappeared after only one season:

ABC

$100,000 Pyramid, The (renewed)

20/20 (renewed)

American Housewife (canceled; five seasons)

American Idol (renewed)

America's Funniest Home Videos (renewed)A Million Little Things (canceled; after Season 5)Bachelor, The (renewed)

Bachelorette, The (renewed)

Bachelor in Paradise (renewed)

Baker and the Beauty (canceled; one season)

Big Sky (renewed)Black-ish (canceled; after Season 8) Bless This Mess (canceled; two seasons)Call Your Mother (canceled; one season)Card SharksCelebrity Family Feud (renewed)

Conners, The (renewed)

Dancing With The Stars (renewed)

Don't (canceled; one season)Emergence (canceled; one season)

For Life (canceled; after Season 2)

Fresh Off The Boat (canceled; six seasons)

Good Doctor, The (renewed)

Grand Hotel (canceled; one season)

Goldbergs, The (renewed)

Grey's Anatomy (Season 18)

Great Christmas Light Fight (renewed)

Holey Moley (canceled; after Season 4)

How To Get Away With Murder...

The TV production industry seems to be roaring back after Covid and union strike delays, although many series with great hopes have disappeared after only one season:

ABC

$100,000 Pyramid, The (renewed)

20/20 (renewed)

American Housewife (canceled; five seasons)

American Idol (renewed)

America's Funniest Home Videos (renewed)A Million Little Things (canceled; after Season 5)Bachelor, The (renewed)

Bachelorette, The (renewed)

Bachelor in Paradise (renewed)

Baker and the Beauty (canceled; one season)

Big Sky (renewed)Black-ish (canceled; after Season 8) Bless This Mess (canceled; two seasons)Call Your Mother (canceled; one season)Card SharksCelebrity Family Feud (renewed)

Conners, The (renewed)

Dancing With The Stars (renewed)

Don't (canceled; one season)Emergence (canceled; one season)

For Life (canceled; after Season 2)

Fresh Off The Boat (canceled; six seasons)

Good Doctor, The (renewed)

Grand Hotel (canceled; one season)

Goldbergs, The (renewed)

Grey's Anatomy (Season 18)

Great Christmas Light Fight (renewed)

Holey Moley (canceled; after Season 4)

How To Get Away With Murder...

Writer and director Amrou Al-Kadhi shares many similarities with the eponymous protagonist of their directorial debut “Layla,” a drama about how a drag queen’s first love influences their sense of self. Al-Kadhi speaks exclusively to Variety ahead of the world premiere of “Layla” Thursday in Sundance Film Festival’s World Cinema Dramatic Competition. (Watch an exclusive clip below.)

Both Al-Kadhi and Layla are British of Arab descent — Al-Kadhi being British-Iraqi and Layla British-Palestinian — and both are non-binary and perform in drag. The director is used to blurring the lines between the personal and the fictional, rooting their drag persona Glamrou in first-hand experience as a queer Arab in Britain and having written award-winning “Unicorn: The Memoir of a Muslim Drag Queen.”

Al-Kadhi emphasizes that, as an artist, it is important to prod into the personal so they can create work that “resonates with people,” but reiterates that “Layla” is a work of fiction.

Exclusive: Following his critically acclaimed performance as Mike Von Erich in A24’s The Iron Claw, Stanley Simons has found a new agency to call home as he has signed with Gersh for representation.

Even though the film is filled with plenty of star power from Zac Efron to Jeremy Allen White, Simons holds his own as the youngest Von Erich brother and delivers some of the best moments from the movie. Following the film’s release, agencies from around town have been aggressive in trying to sign Simons with Gersh ultimately winning him over.

He gained attention for his role as Miles, the stoner ice cream store manager in Erin Vassilipoulos’ quirky feature film Superior, which premiered in the US Dramatic Competition at Sundance 2021. Stanley made his feature film debut in 2019 with the release of Peter Lee’s delightful Bronx love story Angelfish, playing alongside the remarkable Princess Nokia and Jimi Stanton.

While the TV production industry deals with a resurgence of Covid, television series cancelations continue:

ABC

$100,000 Pyramid, The (renewed)

20/20 (renewed)

American Housewife (canceled; five seasons)

American Idol (renewed)

America's Funniest Home Videos (renewed)A Million Little Things (canceled; after Season 5)Bachelor, The (renewed)

Bachelorette, The (renewed)

Bachelor in Paradise (renewed)

Baker and the Beauty (canceled; one season)

Big Sky (renewed)Black-ish (canceled; after Season 8) Bless This Mess (canceled; two seasons)Call Your Mother (canceled; one season)Card SharksCelebrity Family Feud (renewed)

Conners, The (renewed)

Dancing With The Stars (renewed)

Don't (canceled; one season)Emergence (canceled; one season)

For Life (canceled; after Season 2)

Fresh Off The Boat (canceled; six seasons)

Good Doctor, The (renewed)

Grand Hotel (canceled; one season)

Goldbergs, The (renewed)

Grey's Anatomy (Season 18)

Great Christmas Light Fight (renewed)

Holey Moley (canceled; after Season 4)

How To Get Away With Murder (canceled; six seasons)

Hustler, The (canceled; after Season Two...

The 38th Annual Imagen Awards took place on Sunday, Dec. 3 to celebrate Latino excellence and contributions to Hollywood. Taking place at the Biltmore Hotel in L.A., the talent that showed up to the event included Gina Rodriguez, Edward James Olmos, Michael Cimino, Enrique Arrizon, Julieta Egurrola, and many more.

This year’s ceremony comprised 136 nominations across 27 categories highlighting storytelling and performances by Latino talent. Among the nominees were programs and films such as Flamin’ Hot, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, Acapulco and This Fool.

Contending for Best Feature Film were A Man Called Otto, Flamin’ Hot, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio and Ruido. Nominees for Best Actor in a Feature Film included Daniel Giménez Cacho for Bardo, Andy García for Father of the Bride, Jesse García for Flamin’ Hot and Tenoch Huerta Mejía for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. In the Best Actress in a Feature Film category, the...

While the TV production industry deals with a resurgence of Covid, television series cancelations continue:

ABC

$100,000 Pyramid, The (renewed)

20/20 (renewed)

American Housewife (canceled; five seasons)

American Idol (renewed)

America's Funniest Home Videos (renewed)A Million Little Things (canceled; after Season 5)Bachelor, The (renewed)

Bachelorette, The (renewed)

Bachelor in Paradise (renewed)

Baker and the Beauty (canceled; one season)

Big Sky (renewed)Black-ish (canceled; after Season 8) Bless This Mess (canceled; two seasons)Call Your Mother (canceled; one season)Card SharksCelebrity Family Feud (renewed)

Conners, The (renewed)

Dancing With The Stars (renewed)

Don't (canceled; one season)Emergence (canceled; one season)

For Life (canceled; after Season 2)

Fresh Off The Boat (canceled; six seasons)

Good Doctor, The (renewed)

Grand Hotel (canceled; one season)

Goldbergs, The (renewed)

Grey's Anatomy (Season 18)

Great Christmas Light Fight (renewed)

Holey Moley (canceled; after Season 4)

How To Get Away With Murder (canceled; six seasons)

Hustler, The (canceled; after Season Two...

While the TV production industry deals with an ongoing Actors strike and a resurgence of Covid, television series cancelations continue:

ABC

$100,000 Pyramid, The (renewed)

20/20 (renewed)

American Housewife (canceled; five seasons)

American Idol (renewed)

America's Funniest Home Videos (renewed)A Million Little Things (canceled; after Season 5)Bachelor, The (renewed)

Bachelorette, The (renewed)

Bachelor in Paradise (renewed)

Baker and the Beauty (canceled; one season)

Big Sky (renewed)Black-ish (canceled; after Season 8) Bless This Mess (canceled; two seasons)Call Your Mother (canceled; one season)Card SharksCelebrity Family Feud (renewed)

Conners, The (renewed)

Dancing With The Stars (renewed)

Don't (canceled; one season)Emergence (canceled; one season)

For Life (canceled; after Season 2)

Fresh Off The Boat (canceled; six seasons)

Good Doctor, The (renewed)

Grand Hotel (canceled; one season)

Goldbergs, The (renewed)

Grey's Anatomy (Season 18)

Great Christmas Light Fight (renewed)

Holey Moley (canceled; after Season 4)

How To Get Away With Murder (canceled; six seasons)

Hustler,...

Prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike, Halle Berry had attached herself to a new psychological thriller that she is also set to produce, titled The Process. Deadline reports that Berry will be producing through her company, HalleHolly, with Robert Kravis and Karl Herrmann producing through their Pioneer Pictures banner. Berry is coming off of a personal passion project from Netflix, which she also directed, in which she starred as an Mma fighter, called Bruised. She could also be seen in the recent disaster movie Moonfall by famous Earth-destroying filmmaker Roland Emmerich. Tara Miele will be sitting in the director’s chair for The Process.

Kravis and Herrmann shared their enthusiasm about the upcoming project, “We are thrilled to be working with HalleHolly to bring Levin’s amazing screenplay to the screen. Tara’s vision for the film—a Kubrickian psychological thriller taking us down the rabbit hole of self-help cults,...

Exclusive: Oscar-winner Halle Berry is set to star in the psychological thriller The Process with Tara Miele directing. Berry will also produce alongside her producing partner Holly Jeter through their banner HalleHolly with Robert Kravis and Karl Herrmann producing through their Pioneer Pictures banner. Julia Sandberg Hansson is also producing.

FilmNation Entertainment will launch international sales for the film at AFM with Verve Ventures and WME Independent co-repping North American rights. Berry had been attached to star in the film prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike.

“We are thrilled to be working with HalleHolly to bring Levin’s amazing screenplay to the screen. Tara’s vision for the film—a Kubrickian psychological thriller taking us down the rabbit-hole of self-help cults, and Halle’s interpretation of the film’s lead character, Kirsa—a woman fighting to preserve her marriage and her sanity amid an oppressive cult of personality, will leave audiences breathless,...

While the TV production industry deals with an ongoing Actors strike and a resurgence of Covid, television series cancelations continue:

ABC

$100,000 Pyramid, The (renewed)

20/20 (renewed)

American Housewife (canceled; five seasons)

American Idol (renewed)

America's Funniest Home Videos (renewed)A Million Little Things (canceled; after Season 5)Bachelor, The (renewed)

Bachelorette, The (renewed)

Bachelor in Paradise (renewed)

Baker and the Beauty (canceled; one season)

Big Sky (renewed)Black-ish (canceled; after Season 8) Bless This Mess (canceled; two seasons)Call Your Mother (canceled; one season)Card SharksCelebrity Family Feud (renewed)

Conners, The (renewed)

Dancing With The Stars (renewed)

Don't (canceled; one season)Emergence (canceled; one season)

For Life (canceled; after Season 2)

Fresh Off The Boat (canceled; six seasons)

Good Doctor, The (renewed)

Grand Hotel (canceled; one season)

Goldbergs, The (renewed)

Grey's Anatomy (Season 18)

Great Christmas Light Fight (renewed)

Holey Moley (renewed)

How To Get Away With Murder (canceled; six seasons)

Hustler, The (canceled...

Brie Larson takes a break from the superhero world to star in the new drama from AppleTV. Lessons in Chemistry is an eight-episode limited series that is on the bestselling novel of the same name from author, science editor and copywriter Bonnie Garmus (you can pick up a copy of the novel Here). The show is scheduled to make its debut globally on AppleTV+ starting on Friday, October 13, 2023, with the first two episodes. Then, new episodes are set to stream weekly, every Friday through November 24, 2023.

The official synopsis from Apple reads,

“Set in the early 1950s, Lessons in Chemistry follows Elizabeth Zott (played by Larson), whose dream of being a scientist is put on hold in a patriarchal society. When Elizabeth finds herself fired from her lab, she accepts a job as a host on a TV cooking show, and sets out to teach a nation of overlooked housewives — and...

Brie Larson has delivered countless phenomenal performances throughout her career, but something tells us we're getting her finest work on Lessons in Chemistry.

Apple TV+ shared the official trailer for the highly-anticipated limited series on Thursday morning, showing Larson as Elizabeth Zott.

Zott is a scientist whose life is upended when, on the cusp of discovering something great, a patriarchal society puts her career on hold.

You can tell from the official trailer that this has a profound effect on Elizabeth because the first half focuses on her trying to make a significant breakthrough.

Hearing that everything you've worked for is being taken away from you must be one of the worst feelings in the world, and just when Elizabeth is trying to bounce back following the controversial decision, she gets quite the offer.

She's offered the job as a host of a TV cooking show, and while she's apprehensive at first,...

While the TV production industry deals with an ongoing Actors, Writers strike and a resurgence of Covid, television series cancelations continue:

ABC

$100,000 Pyramid, The (renewed)

20/20 (renewed)

American Housewife (canceled; five seasons)

American Idol (renewed)

America's Funniest Home Videos (renewed)A Million Little Things (canceled; after Season 5)Bachelor, The (renewed)

Bachelorette, The (renewed)

Bachelor in Paradise (renewed)

Baker and the Beauty (canceled; one season)

Big Sky (renewed)Black-ish (canceled; after Season 8) Bless This Mess (canceled; two seasons)Call Your Mother (canceled; one season)Card SharksCelebrity Family Feud (renewed)

Conners, The (renewed)

Dancing With The Stars (renewed)

Don't (canceled; one season)Emergence (canceled; one season)

For Life (canceled; after Season 2)

Fresh Off The Boat (canceled; six seasons)

Good Doctor, The (renewed)

Grand Hotel (canceled; one season)

Goldbergs, The (renewed)

Grey's Anatomy (Season 18)

Great Christmas Light Fight (renewed)

Holey Moley (renewed)

How To Get Away With Murder (canceled; six seasons)

Hustler, The...

How I Met Your Father has come to a sudden halt, as Hulu has decided to axe the How I Met Your Mother series after only two seasons, following the recent Season 2 finale in July. How I Met Your Father picked up 8 years later following the events of How I Met Your Mother and revolves around a new group of friends, consisting of Sophie (Hilary Duff from Lizzie McGuire), Jesse (Chris Lowell from Veronica Mars), Valentina (Francia Raisa from grown-ish), Charlie (Tom Ainsley from The Royals), Ellen (Tien Tran from Space Force), and Sid (Suraj Sharma from Little America). Unlike the initial series, the show’s pilot revealed that the central character, 58-year-old Sophie (played by Kim Cattrall from Sex and the City), had already encountered her future husband. In the finale of Season 2, which is effectively the series finale of the show, Sophie enters a relationship with potential father-to-be Jesse,...

In a sign of Hollywood’s escalating internal tensions, a prominent Directors Guild of America member openly advocated against the election of 10 writer-directors to the guild’s board earlier this month on the grounds that they were “primarily writers” and hailed from “fringe groups.”

In a leaked email that has been shared widely in the creative community, Linda Montanti, chair of the guild’s Western Ad/Upm Council, urged a bloc of DGA voters to not support the board candidacies of a number of multihyphenates who are members of both the DGA and WGA — some of whom have been outspoken about strike issues. The list includes writer-producer Boots Riley, Oscar-winning “Coda” writer-director Sian Heder, actor-filmmaker Justine Bateman, actor-writer Paul Scheer and “Chernobyl” creator Craig Mazin. The unorthodox move prompted DGA president Lesli Linka Glatter to contact the members affected to assure them that Montanti’s move was not condoned by top DGA leaders.

Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events. Predictions are updated every Thursday.

Visit the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies via the links below:

Oscars | Emmys | Grammys | Tonys

2023 Emmy Predictions:

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or TV Movie Dahmer. Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. (L to R) Evan Peters as Jeffrey Dahmer, Richard Jenkins as Lionel Dahmer in episode 108 of Dahmer. Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. Cr. Courtesy Of Netflix © 2022

Weekly Commentary: There...

Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events. Predictions are updated every Thursday.

Visit the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies via the links below:

Oscars | Emmys | Grammys | Tonys

2023 Emmy Predictions:

Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series

Weekly Commentary: Acting nominees Richard Jenkins and Evan Peters (“Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”) and Steven Yeun and Ali Wong (“Beef”) added producing noms to their Emmy celebrations.

“Dahmer” marks Peters’ second executive producer credit (the first was “American Horror Story...

Humanitas, the organization that annually honors film and television writers whose work best explores the human condition, has revealed its 2023 winners.

Among the prizewinners is Craig Mazin, who scripted Season 1 The Last of Us episode “Long Long Time” that starred Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett. Mazin won in the Drama Teleplay category, beating out fellow semifinalists that included Peter Gould who was up for the series-finale episode of Better Call Saul.

Other Humanitas category winners in TV included Amy Sherman-Palladino for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Comedy Teleplay), and Tony Phelan & Joan Rater for the pilot of A Small Light in Limited Series.

On the movie side, winners included Tyler Perry for his Tyler Perry: A Jazzman’s Blues in the Drama Feature Film category, over Rebecca Lenkiewicz for She Said and Michael Reilly & Keith Beauchamp and Chinonye Chukwu for Till. Cooper Raiff won Comedy Feature Film for his indie Cha Cha Real Smooth,...

This year’s Humanitas Prizes for screenwriting, usually handed out at Beverly Hilton ceremony, were announced via the Los Angeles Times this year in solidarity with the unions on strike, including the Unite Here Local 11 hospitality workers. And on top of awarding shows like The Last of Us and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Humanitas, an organization founded in 1974, also honored the striking Writers Guild of America itself with its “Voice for Change” award. Past winners of that award have included Ava DuVernay and Kenya Barris.

Humanitas’ mission is to tell “stories that explore the human experience because we believe that the act of acknowledging our common humanity is transformational.” With that in mind, this year the organization’s winners include The Last of Us‘ Craig Mazin for the teleplay for the emotional and critically lauded episode “Long, Long Time” in the drama television category. In the comedy equivalent, Amy Sherman-Palladino...

While the TV production industry deals with an ongoing Actors and Writers strike, television series cancelations continue:

ABC

$100,000 Pyramid, The (renewed)

20/20 (renewed)

American Housewife (canceled; five seasons)

American Idol (renewed)

America's Funniest Home Videos (renewed)A Million Little Things (canceled; after Season 5)Bachelor, The (renewed)

Bachelorette, The (renewed)

Bachelor in Paradise (renewed)

Baker and the Beauty (canceled; one season)

Big Sky (renewed)Black-ish (canceled; after Season 8) Bless This Mess (canceled; two seasons)Call Your Mother (canceled; one season)Card SharksCelebrity Family Feud (renewed)

Conners, The (renewed)

Dancing With The Stars (renewed)

Don't (canceled; one season)Emergence (canceled; one season)

For Life (canceled; after Season 2)

Fresh Off The Boat (canceled; six seasons)

Good Doctor, The (renewed)

Grand Hotel (canceled; one season)

Goldbergs, The (renewed)

Grey's Anatomy (Season 18)

Great Christmas Light Fight (renewed)

Holey Moley (renewed)

How To Get Away With Murder (canceled; six seasons)

Hustler, The (canceled; after Season Two...

Berlin-based sales agent Pluto Film has boarded “Forever-Forever” (“Nazavzhdy-Nazavzhdy”), Ukrainian filmmaker Anna Buryachkova’s feature directing debut, ahead of its world premiere in Venice Film Festival’s Horizons Extra competition.

After transferring from a downtown high school, Tonia (Alina Cheban) befriends a group of badass youngsters, trying to find protection from the people from her past and a place she truly belongs. They spend time together, roaming around Kyiv’s post-socialist suburbs, having fun and getting in trouble. Soon, Tonia falls in love with Zhurik. When she also falls for Sania (Arthur Aliiev), she finds herself tangled up in an alluring secret love triangle. But Tonia’s painful past still haunts her, challenging this newfound friendship and romance. Will she be able to find her own path or lose herself in this new controversial relationship?

Buryachkova stated: “This film is a love song to the lost teenagers of the late...

While the TV production industry deals with a Writers Guild strike, plus a recovery from the unleashed 'Covid' pandemic, TV series cancelations continue:

ABC

$100,000 Pyramid, The (renewed)

20/20 (renewed)

American Housewife (canceled; five seasons)

American Idol (renewed)

America's Funniest Home Videos (renewed)A Million Little Things (canceled; after Season 5)Bachelor, The (renewed)

Bachelorette, The (renewed)

Bachelor in Paradise (renewed)

Baker and the Beauty (canceled; one season)

Big Sky (renewed)Black-ish (canceled; after Season 8) Bless This Mess (canceled; two seasons)Call Your Mother (canceled; one season)Card SharksCelebrity Family Feud (renewed)

Conners, The (renewed)

Dancing With The Stars (renewed)

Don't (canceled; one season)Emergence (canceled; one season)

For Life (canceled; after Season 2)

Fresh Off The Boat (canceled; six seasons)

Good Doctor, The (renewed)

Grand Hotel (canceled; one season)

Goldbergs, The (renewed)

Grey's Anatomy (Season 18)

Great Christmas Light Fight (renewed)

Holey Moley (renewed)

How To Get Away With Murder (canceled; six seasons)

Hustler,...

Exclusive: BET has rounded out the series regular cast for Diarra From Detroit. Phylicia Rashad, Shannon Wallace and Jon Chaffin are set as leads opposite Diarra Kilpatrick in the dark comedy series that is slated to premiere on BET+ in late 2023.

In addition to Kilpatrick, they join previously announced series regulars Morris Chestnut, DomiNque Perry, Claudia Logan and Bryan Terrell Clark.

Created by and starring Kilpatrick, Diarra from Detroit follows Diarra Brickland (Kilpatrick), a divorcing schoolteacher who refuses to believe she’s been ghosted by her rebound Tinder date. Her search for the missing man pulls her into a decades-old mystery involving the Detroit underworld. As the case unfolds, her co-workers, friends, and lovers become unlikely allies as she falls down a dangerous rabbit hole.

Rashad will play Vonda, Wallace portrays Chris and Chaffin plays Danger. Character descriptions are being kept under wraps for now.

From BET Studios and Khalabo Ink Society,...

While the TV production industry deals with a Writers Guild strike, and a slow recovery from 'Covid', TV series cancelations continue:

ABC

$100,000 Pyramid, The (renewed)

20/20 (renewed)

American Housewife (canceled; five seasons)

American Idol (renewed)

America's Funniest Home Videos (renewed)A Million Little Things (canceled; after Season 5)Bachelor, The (renewed)

Bachelorette, The (renewed)

Bachelor in Paradise (renewed)

Baker and the Beauty (canceled; one season)

Big Sky (renewed)Black-ish (canceled; after Season 8) Bless This Mess (canceled; two seasons)Call Your Mother (canceled; one season)Card SharksCelebrity Family Feud (renewed)

Conners, The (renewed)

Dancing With The Stars (renewed)

Don't (canceled; one season)Emergence (canceled; one season)

For Life (canceled; after Season 2)

Fresh Off The Boat (canceled; six seasons)

Good Doctor, The (renewed)

Grand Hotel (canceled; one season)

Goldbergs, The (renewed)

Grey's Anatomy (Season 18)

Great Christmas Light Fight (renewed)

Holey Moley (renewed)

How To Get Away With Murder (canceled; six seasons)

Hustler, The...

While the TV production industry continues to recover from 'Covid', insisting performers be vaccinated with boosters and daily testing, TV series cancelations continue, due to the initial spread of the virus, that continues to affect both cast and crew:

ABC

$100,000 Pyramid, The (renewed)

20/20 (renewed)

American Housewife (canceled; five seasons)

American Idol (renewed)

America's Funniest Home Videos (renewed)A Million Little Things (canceled; after Season 5)Bachelor, The (renewed)

Bachelorette, The (renewed)

Bachelor in Paradise (renewed)

Baker and the Beauty (canceled; one season)

Big Sky (renewed)Black-ish (canceled; after Season 8) Bless This Mess (canceled; two seasons)Call Your Mother (canceled; one season)Card SharksCelebrity Family Feud (renewed)

Conners, The (renewed)

Dancing With The Stars (renewed)

Don't (canceled; one season)Emergence (canceled; one season)

For Life (canceled; after Season 2)

Fresh Off The Boat (canceled; six seasons)

Good Doctor, The (renewed)

Grand Hotel (canceled; one season)

Goldbergs, The (renewed)

Grey's Anatomy (Season 18)

Great...

Apple TV+ is opening its own FYC activation pop-up this year, taking over Hollywood’s Goya Studios to launch the “Think Apple TV+ FYC” space from May 1 to May 14.

The streamer’s signature Emmy-winning hit “Ted Lasso” will open the space on May 1 with a fan event that includes a series trivia game, followed by a conversation moderated by Yvette Nicole Brown (“Community”). Cast and creative team participating include series star and executive producer Jason Sudeikis, as well as Brendan Hunt, Brett Goldstein, Juno Temple, Phil Dunster, Jeremy Swift, Kola Bokinni, Cristo Fernández, Billy Harris and James Lance. The trivia game, hosted by comedian Ryan Budds, will feature cast members Charlie Hiscock, Stephen Manas and Moe Jeudy-Lamour.

Meanwhile, the two-week “Think Apple TV+” FYC space will wrap on May 14 with a “Schmigadoon!” sing-along. Since it’s Apple, the event will allow attendees to follow the lyrics along with “Schmigadoon!” stars Andrew Singer,...