AEW Sets Unscripted Series ‘All Access’ at TBS

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Filming has begun on Tom Waller’s true-crime thriller, “Kiss of the Con Queen,” with real-life victim Eoin O’Brien (“The Last Full Measure”) taking the lead role. He plays actor duped by an impersonator to travel to Indonesia on the promise of auditions for a leading role in a DC origins series, only to discover that he had been scammed by the infamous Con Queen of Hollywood. In the real world, the alleged perpetrator, 41-year-old Indonesian food blogger Hargobind Tahilramani, is accused of pretending to be both male and female Hollywood executives and having swindled hundreds of victims of millions of dollars. He was arrested in 2020 after an FBI manhunt and is currently in prison in the U.K. where he is fighting against possible extradition to the U.S. The U.K. court hearings have been dramatic and disturbing.

Spring arrives next week, and the 2022-23 TV season in starting to wind down. Now CBS has set the season-finale dates for its series along with the series-ending two-parter for NCIS: Los Angeles after 14 years.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief U.S.- and Japan-based screen writer and producer Aoyagi Yumiko has signed with Creative Artists Agency (CAA) for talent representation. Born in Yokohama, Japan, but having grown up in Los Angeles and graduated from Sophia University in Tokyo, Aoyagi now works across both the Japanese and U.S. film and TV industries. She debuted as a screenwriter in 1995, writing the fourth episode of the Fuji TV series “Seiga wa Tatsu” before winning Galaxy Award prizes for telefilm “Saigo no Kazoku Ryoky: Family Affair.” In 2003, she wrote the show “Kokoro,” becoming the youngest person ever to write for the coveted morning slot on Japan’s national public broadcaster, NHK. The slot about a young woman’s development in a traditional neighborhood in Tokyo, has a continuous history of over 60 years and is known as “the face of Japan.”

Addie Morfoot Contributor In 2015, Danish filmmaker Lin Alluna invited Aaju Peter out for a cup of coffee. Alluna didn’t know Peter but was “immediately captivated” by the Greenlandic Inuit lawyer and activist. “I was honored that she took time to meet with me, and those first hours I spent with Aaju were life-changing,” says Alluna. “She revealed hidden truths about myself and the history of my country that I knew I had to find a way to share.” So, in 2017, Alluna began filming Peter as she fought to defend the human rights of Indigenous peoples of the Arctic and also bring her colonizers in both Canada and Denmark to justice. The result is “Twice Colonized,” a documentary about Peter’s fight for justice, her efforts to establish an Indigenous forum at the European Union and mend her own personal wounds.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief U.K.- and Hong Kong-based company Phoenix Waters Prods. has formally partnered with Hong Kong’s Agog Films to create Phoenix Waters Asia, a new venture aimed at increasing content production in Asia. The venture was announced on the sidelines of a film investment conference held Tuesday in Hong Kong at the FilMart rights market, where Phoenix Waters Prods. CEO Bizhan Tong was a speaker. The two companies previously collaborated on “Chungking Mansions,” an ambitious pan-Asian action film on which Tong is director, and where production was previously scheduled for last year. Tong told Variety that lensing will start later this year, “after address any issues that could hinder filming in Hong Kong.”

The Last Of Us went out on a high note. The season finale drew 8.2M viewers across HBO’s linear channel and digital platforms on Sunday, which is the series’ largest same-day audience to date.

Directed by Emma Seligman and written by Seligman and Rachel Sennott, Bottoms, is a coming of age story about two horny teenage girls kicking, punching, and slamming their way to getting laid. The film has a stacked cast including Sennott, Ayo Edebiri, Havana Rose Liu, Kaia Gerber, Ruby Cruz, and Miles Fowler. This comedic journey of its young protagonist is not without its issues, but it’s unapologetic in its execution and filled with memorable moments.

NCIS: Los Angeles is expanding its series finale to two episodes. The double series ender will air Sunday, May 14 at 10 PM, the date previously announced as the series finale, and Sunday, May 21 at 9 PM on CBS. Following the May 21st episode, CBS will air A Salute To NCIS: Los Angeles an Entertainment Tonight special that takes a look back at the past 14 years of the series.

Argentina, 1985 Leads 2023 Platino Awards NominationsSantiago Miter’s political thriller Argentina, 1985 leads this year’s Platino awards nominations with 14 nods, including Best Director, Screenplay, and Best Ibero-American Fiction Film. Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s latest pic Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths trails with six nominations alongside Spanish filmmaker Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s The Beasts and Lullaby by Alauda Ruiz De Azúa. On the TV side, the Colombian series Noticia de un kidnapping also notched six noms. This year’s Platino awards take place on April 22 at the IFEMA Municipal Palace in Madrid. Check out the full list of nominations here.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Asian premiere of Soi Cheang’s “Mad Fate” is just one of three locally-produced movies that have been set as the opening and closing titles of the upcoming Hong Kong International Film Festival. “Mad Fate” is joined in the festival opening slot on March 30 by “Elegies,” Ann Hui’s documentary portrayal of the topography of contemporary local poetry, which will have its world premiere. The closing film, another world premiere, is “Vital Sign,” an affecting drama directed by Cheuk Wan-chi and starring Louis Koo, Yau Hawk-sau, and Angela Yuen, which will wrap up proceedings on 10 April. In total, the festival has programmed some 200 films from 64 countries and territories. These include nine world premieres, six international premieres, and 67 Asian premieres.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Philippines media powerhouse ABS-CBN is launching “The Bagman” action drama series as a remake of its own “Bagman” digital production and will launch it at Hong Kong’s FilMart next week. The original “Bagman,” which ran to two seasons and sold to Netflix in The Philippines, follows a neighborhood barber who lands a job as the governor’s henchman and gets caught up in a dangerous web of crime, corruption, and political turmoil. That is a familiar story for ABS-CBN itself. The company was until 2020 The Philippines leading broadcaster. But it dared to criticize the policies of then president Rodrigo Duterte and found its TV licenses were not renewed. Since the loss of its TV broadcast operations, ABS-CBN has repositioned itself as a mass content company working as a producer with other producers and broadcasters and outputting news to its website, streaming service iWantTFC and YouTube channels. It also operates related businesses in talent management and events.

David Chase has set his next series at FX with Hannah Fidell with Chase and Fidell attached as creators and co-writers.The series, which is in development with a pilot commitment, is based on a previously unproduced script by “The Sopranos” director featuring a contemporary take by Fidell.Fidell is set to direct the pilot with FX Productions producing the pilot. Chase, Fidell and Chase Films’ Nicole Lambert will serve as executive producers.In addition to creating HBO drama series “The Sopranos,” which collected 21 Emmys through its time on air, Chase also created “Rockford Files” and “Kolchak: The Night Stalker” and made his feature film debut with “Not Fade Away.” “The Many Saints of Newark,” the feature film prequel to “The Sopranos” was released in 2021 by Warner Bros.Currently under a first look film and television deal with Warner Bros.

Amazon Freevee’s new docu-style comedy series Jury Duty is set to premiere with four episodes on April 7. The 8-episode multi-camera comedy starring James Marsden will drop two new episodes each Friday thereafter until April 21.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Global streaming operation Netflix is forecast to spend $1.9 billion on local content in the Asia-Pacific region this year as group revenue from the region accelerates to 12%, according to a new report. The content investment spending figure represents a 15% hike. Netflix will grow revenues this year by 12% year-on-year to exceed $4 billion compared with 9% growth in 2022, says a new report published on Monday by Media Partners Asia.

SANTA MONICA – The festivities outside the 2023 Film Independent Spirit Awards were, well, festive. Last year was the event’s in-person return after a 2021 virtual ceremony and 12 months later there seemed to be significantly more people enjoying the annual opportunity for film industry schmoozing and, um, day drinking.

Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Point Grey Productions have set an all-star voice cast for their upcoming CG-animated theatrical feature Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, Seth Rogen revealed on Saturday.

EXCLUSIVE: MRC has made a deal to develop Pornsak Pichetshote’s Eisner Award-winning graphic novel bestseller The Good Asian into a series. James Wan, Michael Clear and Rob Hackett are producing for Atomic Monster. Will Rowbotham and Luke Maxwell are producing for 3 Arts. 

Prime Video this morning released first look at its global spy series from Anthony and Joe Russo, Citadel, which will premiere April 28 with two episodes, followed by a new episode released weekly every Friday through May 26. The images for the big-budget series, starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Richard Madden, feature British actor Lesley Manville which is being revealed as a core series regular alongside previously announced Madden, Chopra Jonas and Stanley Tucci.

It’s been a little under a year since it was announced that Aziz Ansari’s feature film directorial debut, “Being Mortal,” experienced a production shutdown after sexual misconduct allegations were levied at star Bill Murray.

Jeremy Allen White is a winner!