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The North Fork TV Festival has unveiled that it is honoring “The West Wing” actor Richard Schiff as the Ambassador for the Arts. The organization has also revealed the full list of winners of the Independent Pilot competition, including Sue Zarco Kramer’s comedy “Swipe NYC,” which Schiff co-stars in. The festival will take place in Greenport, NY on Aug. 27 and Aug. 28.

Al Julian and Vince Eisenson’s drama “The Sessions,” Juliana Piscina’s comedy “The Ladies” and Scott Kruse, Josh Long and Kurt Quinn’s sketch pilot “Typical Dan Peterson Stuff” all have been chosen as winners for the competition.

“This year’s winners include a riveting therapy group for convicted killers, a coming-into-age comedy with a hilarious backdrop of online dating in Brooklyn, an off-the-wall sketch comedy, and the feel-good story of a high school girls basketball team,” said Mike Stern, artistic director of the festival and a...

Talk to John Hawkes about “True Detective: Night Country” for any length of time and you’ll get a string of confessions.

When showrunner Issa López offered him the role of police officer Hank Prior, he’d never seen a single episode from the first three seasons of the HBO limited series. He thought the character was too one-dimensional and not nuanced enough. When López said she wanted the character to play guitar in one scene, he didn’t think that was a good idea. And when she said that the instrumental song he’d reluctantly written also needed words for Hank to sing, he resisted for weeks, thinking it’d be too performative.

Hawkes admitted all of these misgivings with typically self-deprecating grins and then shrugged. “I’m glad she prevailed,” he said, “because she’s brilliant.”

López’s brilliance, along with Hawkes’ ability to slip into the skin...

The annual North Fork TV Festival has announced its 2024 lineup, full of beloved TV stars and recent Emmy nominees.

The ninth annual event will take place Tuesday, August 27th and Wednesday August 28th in Greenport, NY. This year, Emmy-nominated stars John Turturro (“Severance”) and Marcia Gay Harden (“The Morning Show”) will be among the honorees, as well as “Frasier” Emmy winner Kelsey Grammer and “The West Wing” Emmy-winning alum Richard Schiff.

Harden will be celebrated with the Canopy Award, while Schiff will be feted with the title of 2024 Ambassador for the Arts. Schiff also co-stars in the North Fork TV Festival comedy pilot winner “Swipe NYC,” which will screen.

“We are honored to present Richard Schiff with this year’s Ambassador for the Arts Award,” festival founder Noah Doyle said. “His remarkable talent and dedication across TV and film have inspired viewers worldwide. We look forward to celebrating his talent in Greenport.

Having trouble predicting who will win Best Movie/Limited Supporting Actor at the upcoming Emmy Awards? Let’s consult Gold Derby’s 2024 Emmy Experts! These savvy pundits from major media outlets have chimed in with their predictions, and the majority of them believe the trophy will go to Robert Downey Jr. (“The Sympathizer”). The other potential nominees, per the Experts’ current racetrack odds, are Jonathan Bailey (“Fellow Travelers”), John Hawkes (“True Detective: Night Country”), Lewis Pullman (“Lessons in Chemistry”), Joe Keery (“Fargo”) and Treat Williams (“Feud: Capote vs. the Swans”).

As of this writing, 15 out of our 18 Emmy Experts predict a victory for Downey for “The Sympathizer”: Ben Travers (Indiewire), Christopher Rosen (Gold Derby), Clayton Davis (Variety), Dave Nemetz (TVLine), Eric Deggans (NPR), Jazz Tangcay (Variety), Joyce Eng (Gold Derby), Kelly Lawler (USA Today), Peter Travers (ABC), Ray Richmond (Gold Derby), Sasha Stone (Awards Daily), Shawn Edwards (Wdaf-tv Fox...

Exclusive: John Hawkes (True Detective: Night Country) has joined the cast of Prime Video‘s graphic novel series, Criminal, in a recurring role. He joins the previously announced cast of Charlie Hunnam, Adria Arjona, Richard Jenkins, Kadeem Hardison, Logan Browning, Pat Healy and Taylor Selé.

Criminal is an interlocking universe of crime stories based on the multi-Eisner Award-winning graphic novel series created by Brubaker and Sean Phillips.

Hawkes has been cast as ‘Sebastian Hyde,’ a hard man who is six months out from a stroke, and now walks with a cane. Once the biggest shark in the shark tank, Hyde is now showing his humanity a bit — maybe a bit too much. The owner of a gambling club, the kind of man whose name is accompanied by fear, Hyde can be both amused by someone one minute, and a ruthless enforcer the next.

As Deadline previously revealed exclusively, Ryan Fleck...

After an unforgettable 10-year run, the beloved comedy-drama television series Shameless bid farewell in April 2021, etching a profound memory in viewers’ hearts. Shameless made its cast members millionaires, some earning over $350,000 per episode.

Originating from a British TV show, Shameless, which debuted on Showtime in January 2011, revolved around the Gallagher family’s unorthodox dynamics as they navigated through chaos, addiction, and financial struggles.

Quick Links William H. Macy Emmy Rossum Jeremy Allen White Cameron Monaghan Emma Kenney Noel Fisher Steve Howey Christian Isaiah Ethan Cutkosky Shanola Hampton

The Gallagher family in the American comedy-drama show Shameless is made up of Frank (William H. Macy), Fiona (Emmy Rossum), Lip (Jeremy Allen White), Ian (Cameron Monaghan), Debbie (Emma Kenney), Carl (Ethan Cutkosky), and Liam (Brenden Gleeson) (Credit: Showtime)

With 11 seasons under its belt, set in the bustling city of Chicago, Shameless was cherished for its authenticity, dark humor, and compelling characters, earning...

In 2020 – for the first time in seven years – the Best Supporting Actress Oscar category saw a lone nomination, meaning that a film was recognized there and nowhere else. This achievement is attributed to Kathy Bates (“Richard Jewell”), who competed for no major precursors except the Golden Globe but still managed to bump Critics Choice, SAG, and Globe nominee Jennifer Lopez (“Hustlers”). Perhaps unsurprisingly given the length of the streak she broke, there has yet to be a lone contender in any of her category’s subsequent lineups.

Since the introduction of the two gendered supporting Oscars in 1937, there have been 57 female lone nominees and 54 male ones, with over half of the entrants on the former roster having been added before 1977. The one who directly preceded Bates was Helen Hunt, whose inclusion in her lineup was much more heavily predicted. Coincidentally, both women had the perceived advantage of being former Best Actress champions,...

Cross Creek Pictures has acquired “The Sessions,” a new screenplay from writer and former Paramount Pictures executive Tom 8. Hayes.

The screenplay is based on true events, telling a story set amidst the New York City jazz scene of the mid-1950s. It focuses on the relationship between musical genius Miles Davis and the retiring Jewish optometrist-turned-sound engineer Rudy Van Gelder, the pioneering creator of new recording methods. According to the official description, “in one of the most remarkable feats in music history, the pair overcame the record label, the New York City mob and the siren call of booze, drugs and women, to produce four breakthrough albums in just three recording sessions – an unprecedented accomplishment that changed the music industry forever. “

Cross Creek Pictures partner David Hosler spearheaded the deal and will produce the picture. The team is currently in the process of meeting potential directors and plans to...

Former WWE star Paige, real name Saraya Bevis, during an interview. Pic credit: Renee Paquette/YouTube

Saraya Bevis, formerly known as WWE superstar Paige, has officially returned to Instagram, sharing a stunning new photo and using her real first name.

The former multi-time champion and ringside manager in WWE showed off a sizzling look captured during a photo shoot where she wore a full black bodysuit.

The one-piece had several belts and buckles stylishly running across her midsection, with Saraya wearing large latex or vinyl gloves, also in black. She kept both hands cradling her chin, cheeks, and side temples for the pose.

Along with the other black attire, Paige wore a huge black hat, which may resemble a large Undertaker hat to some, but is an additional fashion statement for many others.

Her eye shadow and eyebrow makeup were also dark, but Paige wore a light pink shade of...

When an Oscar win brought the paparazzi to her door, the actor figured that endless pictures of her with a yoga mat would be of no interest to them. Now she’s out of Hollywood’s glare, and about to appear on the London stage

In the eyes of some, As Good As It Gets was as good as it got for Helen Hunt. Despite starring in a hit NBC sitcom, Mad About You, and a cult disaster movie, Twister, it was the release of the acerbic romcom in 1997 – in which Hunt’s waitress and single mother forms a love-hate relationship with Jack Nicholson’s misanthropic author – that saw her career truly go supernova. As Good As It Gets brought overnight fame and a best actress Oscar. And yet, the decades since have seen if not a disappearance of that fame, at least an erosion, with few of her films...

Exclusive: Director Bill Oliver has rounded out the cast for his drama Our Son, with Andrew Rannells (Girls5eva), Robin Weigert (American Horror Story) and Kate Burton (Inventing Anna) signing on for roles, along with Phylicia Rashad (This Is Us), Cassandra Freeman (Bel-Air) and Isaac Powell (Dear Evan Hansen).

The recently-wrapped film starring Luke Evans and Billy Porter will follow a divorcing couple fighting for custody of their eight-year-old son. Oliver and Peter Nickowitz wrote the script, with Fernando Loureiro (Frances Ha) and Guilherme Coelho (Fala Tu) producing via their company Tigresa, along with Eric Binns (Lansky), Jennifer 8. Lee (The Price) and Christopher Lin. Alex Peace-Power is serving as co-producer, with CAA Media Finance representing the film’s distribution rights.

Rannells is a Grammy winner and Tony Award nominee whose recent credits include Peacock’s Girls5eva and Showtime’s Black Monday, along with such films as The Boys in the Band and The Prom.

The casting branch of the academy is only eight years old and doesn’t have an Oscar category of its own. However, the Casting Society of America has been handing out the Artios Awards for 37 years (“Artios” is from the ancient Greek meaning “perfectly fitted.”).

Nominees for feature films were announced on February 1 (the last day of Oscar nominations voting). Many of the leading Academy Awards contenders reaped bids across the various categories according to production cost. Winners will be revealed a virtual ceremony on March 17, which is the first day of final Oscar voting.

Last year’s big budget winners were the comedy “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” and the drama “The Trial of the Chicago 7 ” while “The Forty-Year-Old Version” and “One Night in Miami” took the equivalent prizes in the independent division. “Minari” won the low budget and “The Surrogate” the micro budget prizes while “Soul” claimed the animation award.

Since launching in 2015, Keshet Studios, the U.S. division of Keshet International (Ki), has proved a model worth copying for international content producers looking to make it big in Hollywood. The company now develops and produces content for all the biggest broadcasters and streamers in several languages for both U.S. and international audiences. Led by president Peter Traugott, the outfit leans on Ki’s existing international catalog while also acquiring third party IP and developing new originals. Below, 10 Keshet Studio titles currently in development or production.

“La Brea” Ordered by NBC at the beginning of 2021, this original series was created by David Applebaum (“The Mentalist”) and Keshet Studios, which co-produces alongside Universal Television. Already picked up for a second season, it was this fall’s top-rated series among audiences 18-49 in the U.S., with more than 47 million viewers tuning in to the L.A.-based disaster thriller.

“The Missing...

In 2001, the world was introduced to the iPod and Australia had its first taste of digital television.

It’s fair to say the year left its mark in more ways than one, but for Cameron McCulloch, not everything went to plan.

At the time, the then film student was on the verge of completing his feature debut, Scam, starring Kestie Morassi, only for a large portion of the footage to be destroyed in a housefire at a crew member’s place.

Twenty years on and the film is set to have its world premiere at next month’s Monster Fest after being resurrected by cast member and editor Nathan Hill during the 2020 lockdown.

McCulloch, who wrote and then filmed the project on a MiniDV in 12 days for $5,000, said he was “in awe” that it was finally seeing the light of day.

“During lockdown last year, Nathan was prepping another feature...

Exclusive: Mitchell Hoog, one of the lead stars of Peacock’s Saved by the Bell revival has signed with Buchwald for representation.

Hoog leads the Saved by the Bell cast alongside Haskiri Velazquez, Alycia Pascual-Pena and Belmont Cameli. In the Peacock comedy, which will return for Season 2 on Nov. 24, Hoog stars as Mac Morris, the son of California Governor Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar).

He recently appeared opposite Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, the third installment of Warner Bros.’ Conjuring franchise.

The Colorado-born actor has also appeared in Richard Jewell, Harriet and Walk Ride Rodeo. Additional credits include Lifetime’s The Surrogate, the CW’s Roswell, New Mexico and Netflix’s Daybreak.

He continues to be repped by Untitled Entertainment.

According to her dour, navy-suited employers in an old-school London financial institute, young American Millie Cantwell is the most prodigiously gifted fund manager in many a moon: a veritable supernova in her field, destined for great and profitable things. This is doubtless a wonderful thing to hear if you truly want to be a fund manager. If, like Millie, your most cherished ambition is to be an opera singer, it feels more like your head ruthlessly selling out your heart, leaving your voice stranded somewhere in the exchange. As for which ultimately wins out, expect no surprises in “Falling for Figaro,” a corny, cute-enough carpe diem comedy, in which it’s a lovable ensemble — led by Danielle Macdonald, and spiked by a deliciously imperious Joanna Lumley — that brings the grace notes to a pretty standard-issue script.

An Industry Selects offering at Toronto last year, now getting a quiet multiplatform release...

Actress Isla Fisher, director Zak Hilditch, producer Judi Levine, and producer Julia Redwood will make up the jury for next week’s CinefestOZ Film Festival.

They are set to join jury chair Nadia Tass to decide which of the four in-competition films will take home the $100,000 Film Prize at the Closing Gala Night August 28 at Orana Cinemas Busselton.

This year’s finalists include Leah Purcell’s The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson, Justin Kurzel’s Nitram, anthology feature drama Here Out West, and Jennifer Peedom’s River.

Fisher has more than 35 years of film and TV experience, having begun appearing in commercials from the age of nine before playing Shannon Reed in Home & Away. She has since gone on to appear in a raft of international productions, including The Wedding Crashers, Rango, The Great Gatsby, Nocturnal Animals, Definitely, Maybe, Now You See Me, Hot Rod, The Brothers Grimsby,...

"I'm really confused right now... I came here to win a singing competition." IFC Films has unveiled a new official US trailer for Falling for Figaro, an amusing indie comedy about finding your voice. Literally. We featured the UK trailer for this earlier in the year. The latest from filmmaker Ben Lewin (of The Sessions), Falling for Figaro is a romantic comedy film set in the fierce world of opera singing competitions, starring Danielle Macdonald and Joanna Lumley. A brilliant young fund manager leaves her unfulfilling job and a long-term boyfriend to chase her lifelong dream of becoming an opera singer training in the Scottish Highlands. The cast also includes Shazad Latif, Gary Lewis, Hugh Skinner, Rebecca Benson, Bhav Joshi, and Margaret Fraser. This seems charming and uplifting, it looks worth a watch for anyone that loves singing. Here's the official US trailer ( poster) for Ben ...

Keep track of when films are coming out in the territory.

Cinemas in the UK and Ireland are set to reopen this spring, following months of closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Screen is listing the release dates for films in the territory in the calendar below. For distributors who wish to add/amend a date on the calendar, please get in touch with Screen here.

Indoor cinemas in England and Scotland will be allowed to reopen from May 17; with dates yet to be confirmed for Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland.

Screen is also tracking reopening dates of cinemas in...

Exclusive: The story of disability pioneer Sylvia Flexer is set for the big screen.

Ben Lewin, director of The Sessions and The Catcher was a Spy, is to write and direct a feature film for Keshet Studios and White Lodge Productions.

Sylvia and the President is the true story of a marginalized group of people and their fight for equality. At the age of 21, outspoken Flexer – who walked with the aid of crutches – was elected president of the League of the Physically Handicapped. It was the height of the Great Depression and, like Sylvia, the majority of the members had been affected by polio.

Following their efforts to highlight government discrimination against disabled workers in New York, Flexer and 34 other members of the League rode all night on a flatbed truck to Washington to lobby President Roosevelt – who was still hiding the extent of his own disability from the public...

Including previews, the film set a new record opening for a film this year.

RankFilm (Distributor)Three-day gross (July 9-11)Total gross to dateWeek 1 Black Widow (Disney) £4.6m £6.9m 1 2 Fast And Furious 9 (Universal) £1.1m £13m 3 3 Peter Rabbit 2 (Sony) £510,000 £18.2m 8 4 In The Heights (Warner Bros) £232,000 £3.8m 6 5 Cruella (Disney) £232,000 £8.9m 4

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.39

Disney’s Marvel title Black Widow stormed the UK-Ireland box office this weekend, opening in top spot with a £4.6m Friday to Sunday session.

This was the second-highest opening of the year behind the £4.8m of Fast And Furious 9 last month. Including two days of previews,...

Disney to give Marvel superhero film the widest release since UK cinemas reopened in May.

After a delay of more than a year, Disney has finally released Marvel superhero adventure Black Widow in the UK and Ireland, and will deliver the territory’s widest theatrical release since cinemas began reopening in May.

The comic book adaptation, starring Scarlett Johansson and directed by Cate Shortland, opened in 622 venues in the UK on Wednesday (July 7) – two days ahead of the US – and generated £1.2m of its first day of release. The takings were impacted by England’s win over Denmark in the...

LeBron James might be out of the NBA playoffs, but he’s still angling to be a big part of the summer entertainment season. That’s because HBO Max’s list of new releases for July 2021 is highlighted by a very special sequel.

Space Jam: A New Legacy premieres on July 16. will find LeBron teaming up with the Looney Tunes in a Warner Bros. IP-extravaganza. Can ‘Bron and the Looney Tunes beat the Goon Squad before Warner Bros.’ server steals LeBron “Bronny” Jr.’s soul (or something)? Let’s hope so. The two other major WB releases this month, No Sudden Move and Tom and Jerry in New York, both come to HBO Max on July 1.

HBO Max is also bringing some fun TV shows to its stream this month. The long-awaited Gossip Girl revival premieres on July 8. That will be followed by Mike White’s satirical limited series The White Lotus...

Writer-director Jeremy Hersh and his newcomer star Jasmine Batchelor hope their new film, The Surrogate, will provoke awkward questions

There are two films called The Surrogate. The first is a made-for-tv movie about an obsessive fan who cons her way into a writer’s life by carrying their baby.

“I’ve seen that movie,” says the director Jeremy Hersh, pulling a face. “I hope no one settles on that looking for this. It’s basically anti-women. The implication is that surrogates are crazy and calculating and out to steal some poor woman’s husband.”...

Summer is officially here and with it comes a surfeit of new movies and television shows available on HBO Max. Next month, the WarnerMedia streaming service will debut the long-awaited sequel to “Space Jam” with Lebron James taking the baton from Michael Jordan and the latest heist movie from Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh. But while those titles arrive, others depart, including “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It” and “In the Heights.”

Ahead, highlights of the month ahead on HBO Max, plus the full list of July programming.

“No Sudden Move” (July 1): Directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Toro, David Harbour, Kieran Culkin, Jon Hamm, Ray Liotta, and “Uncut Gems” breakout Julia Fox, among others, the heist thriller is set in 1950s Detroit and “enters on a group of small-time criminals who are hired to steal what they think is a simple document. When their plan goes horribly wrong,...

Apple TV has debuted a first look at the highly anticipated 2nd season of the Emmy, SAG and Critics Choice award-winning series, ‘The Morning Show.’

Picking up after the explosive events of season one, season two finds the Morning Show team emerging from the wreckage of Alex (Aniston) and Bradley’s (Witherspoon) actions to a new Uba and a world in flux, where identity is everything and the chasm between who we present as and who we really come into play.

Along with Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, the star-studded returning cast includes Steve Carell, Billy Crudup, Mark Duplass, Nestor Carbonell, Karen Pittman, Bel Powley, Desean Terry, Janina Gavankar, Tom Irwin and Marcia Gay Harden.

Joining the cast for season two are Greta Lee as ‘Stella Bak,’ a tech world wunderkind who has joined the Uba executive team; Ruairi O’Connor as ‘Ty Fitzgerald,’ a smart and charismatic YouTube star; Hasan Minhaj as ‘Eric Nomani,...

Studio Soho Distribution has debuted the UK poster and full trailer for Jeremy Hersh’s festival favourite The Surrogate, ahead of its UK release in cinemas (!) on the 9th of July.

The film stars Jasmine Batchelor as Jess, a young woman who is about to become surrogate and egg-donor for her best friend. Batchelor has been winning plaudits for her performance, including her nomination for a Breakthrough Actor award at the IFP Gotham Awards. The film also stars Chris Perfetti, Sullivan Jones, Brooke Bloom, Eboni Booth, William DeMeritt and Purva Bedi.

Here’s the new UK poster which was revealed today.

Plot:

A sensitive insight into the complex issues surrounding surrogacy, The Surrogate follows Jess Harris, a 29-year-old web designer, who is excited to be the surrogate and egg-donor for her best friend Josh and his husband Aaron. Twelve weeks into the pregnancy, a prenatal test comes back with unexpected...

The Tunisian drama debuted at Venice and is nominated for best international feature.

Studio Soho Distribution has acquired UK and Ireland rights to Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania’s drama The Man Who Sold His Skin, which is up for the best international feature at the Oscars this weekend.

The drama, sold by Paris-based Bac Films, premiered in Venice’s Horizons strand last September, where it won Yahya Mahayni best actor and the film the Edipo Re Award. Studio Soho is planning to release the feature theatrically in August.

Inspired by true events, it follows a young Syrian refugee in...

Thursday night featured an opportunity to celebrate the people behind the scenes who put people on the screens. The Casting Society of America announced the winners of the 36th Artios Awards, recognizing the best casting efforts in feature films, television, and theatre. Hosted by Yvette Nicole Brown, it was the first virtual ceremony effort from the organization, as Hollywood continues to make adjustments in light of the ongoing pandemic.

It was also a big night for TV shows a little longer in the tooth, as many of the awards went to series that were already in competition for the 2020 Emmy Awards, meaning that the winners will have little, if any, insight as to this year’s Emmy race. That said, wins for “Normal People,” “Succession,” and “What We Do in the Shadows” are always as welcome as they are well-deserved.

On the film side, two Best Picture nominees were Artios victors,...

“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” “Minari,” “One Night in Miami,” “Soul” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7” were among the feature films honored by the Casting Society of America at the 2021 Artios Awards.

The 36th annual Artios Awards, held by the Casting Society of America in its first-ever worldwide virtual ceremony, honored excellence in casting across feature films, television and theater on Thursday night.

Television winners included “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” “Euphoria,” “Normal People,” “Queer Eye,” “Succession” and “What We Do in the Shadows.”

The Hoyt Bowers Award went to Robi Reed and Tara Rubin, the first time two casting directors were honored for this award.

The European Chapter Artios Awards also made a presentation to Suzanne Smith with the Capelier-Shaw Award for Excellence in Casting.

The Associate Spotlight Award was presented to associate casting directors Michael Rios and Gianna Butler.

“Tonight’s Artios Award ceremony once again celebrated the...

Two films starring Sacha Baron Cohen, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” were among the film winners at the Casting Society of America’s 36th annual Artios Awards, which were presented on Thursday evening in a virtual ceremony hosted by Yvette Nicole Brown.

“Borat” won in the big-budget comedy category, while “Chicago 7” won for big-budget drama.

In other film categories, the award for casting studio or independent films went to “The 40-Year-Old Version” for comedy and “One Night in Miami” for drama. “Minari” won the award for a low-budget film, while “The Surrogate” won for micro budget. “Soul” won the award for casting an animated film.

Television winners included “The Great,” “Euphoria,” “What We Do in the Shadows,” “Succession” and “Normal People.”

Awards for theater, which was closed for most of 2020, included the Broadway shows “Slave Play,” “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical” and “A Soldier’s Play.

The Casting Society of America revealed its winners for the 2021 Artios Awards on Thursday night.

The big budget comedy and drama film awards recognized two teams that cast Sacha Baron Cohen and others, with Borat Subsequent Moviefilm winning the comedy award and The Trial of the Chicago 7 winning the drama award.

Other film awards went to Soul (animation), The 40-Year-Old Version (studio or independent comedy), One Night in Miami (studio or independent drama), Minari (low-budget comedy or drama) and The Surrogate (micro-budget comedy or drama).

TV winners include The Great (pilot and first season comedy), Euphoria (pilot and first season drama), What We Do in the Shadows (comedy ...

The Casting Society of America revealed its winners for the 2021 Artios Awards on Thursday night.

The big budget comedy and drama film awards recognized two teams that cast Sacha Baron Cohen and others, with Borat Subsequent Moviefilm winning the comedy award and The Trial of the Chicago 7 winning the drama award.

Other film awards went to Soul (animation), The 40-Year-Old Version (studio or independent comedy), One Night in Miami (studio or independent drama), Minari (low-budget comedy or drama) and The Surrogate (micro-budget comedy or drama).

TV winners include The Great (pilot and first season comedy), Euphoria (pilot and first season drama), What We Do in the Shadows (comedy ...

Sally Phillips, the British actor known for her role in all three Bridget Jones movies, will head the cast of Australian comedy drama film “How to Please a Woman.”

Pitched as a warmhearted look at sexuality and vulnerability at all stages of life, the film casts Phillips as a 50-something woman who has the inspired idea of launching an all-male house-cleaning service. But she must ask herself questions when the business grows out of control.

Production starts next week in Perth, West Australia, under the direction of Renee Webster, whose previous directing credits include Australian Broadcasting Corporation series “The Heights” and “Itch.” Webster also penned the screenplay.

The completed film will be released in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment. International sales are handled by Germany’s Beta Cinema.

Erik Thomson, who recently appeared in “The Furnace” and next appears in “Blueback,” is set as the male lead. Other cast include Alexander England,...

The Detroit Film Critics Society (Dfcs) is pleased to announce the Best Of 2020 nominees and winners in thirteen categories. This year, due to the pandemic, the period for which a film could be released was extended through February 28, 2021. Also included this year, and not in the past, are films that streamed because they could not be theatrically released. The Dfcs was founded in Spring 2007 and consists of a group of eighteen film critics from Michigan who write or broadcast in the metro-Detroit area as well as other major cities including Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and Toledo, Ohio.

Each critic submitted their top 5 picks in the following categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Ensemble, and Breakthrough in any category, Best Original Screenplay, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Documentary, Best Animated Feature, and Best Use of Music/Sound. From these submissions, each entry...

This year 14 performers have reaped nominations at each of the Golden Globes, SAG and Critics Choice awards. How likely is it that pulling off this triple play will get them to the major leagues so that they number among the 20 performers who earn Oscar nominations on March 15?

Since the Critics Choice Awards introduced nominations in 2002, there have been two dozen instances when a performer nominated across-the-board by these three groups did not go on to contend at the Academy Awards. The most recent of these also-rans stumbled in 2020: Jennifer Lopez (“Hustlers”) failed to translate her support from the three precursors into her first Oscar bid. The other 14 triple nominees that year reaped Oscar bids.

Likewise in 2019 Emily Blunt (“Mary Poppins Returns”) and Timothee Chalamet (“Beautiful Boy”) were overlooked in Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor respectively while the other 14 got invited to the Oscars.

In 2018, James Franco (“The Disaster Artist...

The Detroit Film Critics Society is pleased to announce the Best of 2020 nominees in thirteen categories. This year, to to the pandemic, the period during which a film could be released and considered for the awards was extended through February 28, 2021. Also included this year (and not in the past), are films that streamed because they could be released theatrically. The winners will be announced on Monday, March 8, 2021.

The Detroit Film Critics Society was founded in the Spring of 2007 and consists of a group of 18 film critics with a Michigan connection who write or broadcast in the Detroit area as well as other major cities including Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing, and Flint, Michigan; and Toledo, Ohio.

Each critic submitted their top five (5) picks in the following categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Ensemble, and Breakthrough in any category, Best Original Screenplay,...

Andrea Martin (Great News), Robert Ri’chard (Empire), Juani Feliz (Blue Bloods), Kate Rockwell (Mean Girls: The Musical) and Sullivan Jones (The Surrogate) are set for recurring roles on Amazon’s Harlem, the comedy series from Tracy Oliver (Girls Trip), Amy Poehler’s Paper Kite Productions and Universal TV. They’ll join previously announced Whoopi Goldberg and Jasmine Guy, who also recur.

Created, written and executive produced by Oliver, Harlem, formerly the Untitled Tracy Oliver Project, is a single-camera comedy following the lives of four black women, friends from their college days at NYU, as they navigate sex, relationships and chasing their dreams.

Martin will play Robin, Camille’s passionate feminist mentor at Columbia University. Ri’chard portrays Shawn, Quinn’s sexy, stripper one-night stand who sticks around much longer than she planned. Feliz is Isabela, a local politician on track to beating AOCs record as the youngest member of Congress...

Roster includes mountaineering documentary The Sanctity Of Space.

Ryan Kampe’s Visit Films has added acclaimed Sundance titles I Was a Simple Man, El Planeta and First Date to the sales roster for this week’s virtual EFM.

The slate includes previously announced Sundance thriller Superior, as well as mountaineering documentary The Sanctity Of Space, Tribeca 2020 selections Lorelei and My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To, 2020 SXSW selection The Surrogate, and survival thriller Wildcat.

Visit holds international rights to Christopher Makoto Yogi’s I Was A Simple Man, which takes place in the countryside of the north shore of O‘ahu,...

It’s been more than 15 years since Kestie Morassi’s blood-strewn figure lay helpless on a deserted stretch of highway in one of the most enduring images from Wolf Creek.

She faces a more supernatural tormentor in her return to horror in David Willing’s directorial debut, The Surrogate, which has just wrapped filming in Melbourne.

Morassi plays Natalie Paxton, a single mother and nurse who is rushed to hospital after suffering massive internal bleeding.

When vicious paranormal attacks follow, Natalie must fight to stop her family from being destroyed.

The cast also includes Jane Badler and Louise Siverson, as well as child actors Taysha Furragia as Morassi’s daughter, Ellie Stewart and Ellie Tevalis.

David Willing on the set of ‘The Surrogate’. Photo: Andy Railton

Morassi is pleased to be back working in the genre that helped launch her career.

“I was looking to do another horror film but...

The casting branch of the academy is only seven years old and doesn’t have an Oscar category of its own. However, the Casting Society of America has been handing out the Artios Awards for 35 years (“Artios” is from the ancient Greek meaning “perfectly fitted.”). Nominees for feature films were announced on February 19 and many of the leading 2021 Oscar contenders reaped bids across the various categories according to production cost.

Winners will be revealed a virtual ceremony on April 15. In addition, The Actors Fund will be honored with the Rosalie Joseph Humanitarian Award while casting directors Robi Reed and Tara Rubin will receive the Hoyt Bowers Award.

Last year’s big budget winners were the comedy “Knives Out” and the drama “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” while “Jojo Rabbit” and “Marriage Story” took the equivalent prizes in the independent division. “The Last Black Man in San Francisco” won the...

The Casting Society of America has made its final callbacks for 2020, unveiling the film nominees for its 36th annual Artios Awards. The winners will be announced during the virtual ceremony April 15.

The casting crews for Da 5 Bloods, Hillbilly Elegy, Judas and the Black Messiah, Mulan and The Trial of the Chicago 7 will vie in the marquee Big Budget – Drama category. In the running for Big Budget – Comedy are Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Enola Holmes, The King of Staten Island, The Prom and On the Rocks.

The folks who cast the voices for The Croods: A New Age, Onward, Soul and Trolls World Tour will battle it out for the Animation trophy. See the film list of nominees below.

The CSA announced last month that the Actors Fund will receive its Rosalie Joseph Humanitarian Award, and the Hoyt Bowers Award will go to Robi Reed and Tara Rubin, the first...

⊗ Film is supposed to be inclusive. But if you can’t see yourself on-screen, do you feel as if you even exist? One-third of our lives is spent at work, and the artists who express their creativity through cinema deserve to have their work seen, and not just because of the color of their skin or their gender but because when you are exposed to an experience different from your own, your creativity grows. Take a moment to review this list of eligible films, putting a check mark on the ones you have seen from this year. Ideally, that will leave you with a clearer picture of how you are contributing to cinema’s evolution with your votes.

Your goal should be to watch all of these films, but let’s be realistic. Try seeing at least 60% of them. All meet the Academy’s diversity requirements — in front of or...

This year 14 performers reaped bids at all three key precursor prizes — the SAG, Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice awards. Such recognition certainly warrants getting up early on Oscar nominations mornings. But as Jennifer Lopez learned in 2020 reaping nominations for that awards triple crown for her featured role in “Hustlers” didn’t make her a sure thing in the Academy Awards derby.

She became the most recent of the 24 performers to stumble at the last hurdle and suffer Oscars snubs since the Critics’ Choice Awards introduced nominations in 2001. In 2019 Emily Blunt (“Mary Poppins Returns”) and Timothee Chalamet (“Beautiful Boy”) got added to the roster of those saddled with this dubious achievement.

Chalamet should take comfort from the case of Leonardo DiCaprio, who finally won an Oscar in 2016 for “The Revenant” after four losses. There were two instances when he didn’t even reap an Oscar nomination despite having done well in the run-up awards.

Having lensed several notable works that have been released in the last couple of years, New York-based Dp Mia Cioffi Henry arrives at Sundance with Erin Vassilopolous’s stylish psychodrama, Superior, based on the director’s 2015 short, which Henry also shot. Below, Henry discusses her own journey back to this material following the short, how references find their way into finished works, and being open to the truth of practical locations. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the […]

The post "The Lighting Started from a Real Place of Honesty": Dp Mia Cioffi Henry on Superior first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Having lensed several notable works that have been released in the last couple of years, New York-based Dp Mia Cioffi Henry arrives at Sundance with Erin Vassilopolous’s stylish psychodrama, Superior, based on the director’s 2015 short, which Henry also shot. Below, Henry discusses her own journey back to this material following the short, how references find their way into finished works, and being open to the truth of practical locations. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the […]

The post "The Lighting Started from a Real Place of Honesty": Dp Mia Cioffi Henry on Superior first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

“Together Together” features an enviable cast of comedy favorites, from big name faves like Ed Helms and Tig Notaro to the recently crowned prince of weird Julio Torres. But the most exciting performance comes from alt-comedy darling Patti Harrison, who makes an understated splash in her first leading film role. As a recurring presence on TV shows like “Shrill” and “Search Party” and a writer for “Big Mouth,” Harrison’s stand-up is marked by a droll deadpan that borders on antagonistic. That blasé sensibility is rebranded in “Together Together” as a subdued ambivalence that works for the character’s arrested emotional development. Unfortunately, Harrison is the brightest point in “Together Together,” which

This two-hander casts Harrison opposite Ed Helms, a fine comedic actor who tries to brings gravitas to the unremarkable script. Helms is perfectly cast as Matt, a somewhat nerdy straight guy who, after finding himself single in his mid-40s,...

One of the standout debuts of 2020 was Jeremy Hersh’s The Surrogate, a superbly acted ethical drama that digs deep into complex interpersonal, psychological, moral and legal questions arising from a third-party reproduction arrangement that takes unforeseen turns. Close friendship added further complications to the childbirth pact in that case, whereas in Nikole Beckwith’s Together Together, the pregnancy agreement is purely transactional. The featherweight comedy is also far more generic, nudging around the shifting boundaries between Ed Helms’ father-to-be and Patti Harrison’s paid surrogate without ever really raising the emotional stakes.

Beckwith returns to Sundance six years after her ...

One of the standout debuts of 2020 was Jeremy Hersh’s The Surrogate, a superbly acted ethical drama that digs deep into complex interpersonal, psychological, moral and legal questions arising from a third-party reproduction arrangement that takes unforeseen turns. Close friendship added further complications to the childbirth pact in that case, whereas in Nikole Beckwith’s Together Together, the pregnancy agreement is purely transactional. The featherweight comedy is also far more generic, nudging around the shifting boundaries between Ed Helms’ father-to-be and Patti Harrison’s paid surrogate without ever really raising the emotional stakes.

Beckwith returns to Sundance six years after her ...

Riz Ahmed, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Michaela Coel win prizes.

Nomadland picked up its second and third awards in three days as it won best feature and the IFP Gotham Audience Award at the 30th annual Gotham Awards on Monday (January 11).

Searchlight Pictures’ drama directed by Chloé Zhao topped the National Society Of Film Critics vote at the weekend and is gathering impressive momentum during awards season and prevailed in a category where women directed every nominee.

In a strong night for British talent Riz Ahmed won best actor for Sound Of Metal, Kingsley Ben-Adir of One Night In Miami emerged victorious in the Breakthrough Actor contest,...