HBO Acquires Jacqueline Pereda’s Spanglish Short ‘Generation Por Qué?’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentStrand Releasing has acquired North American rights to Christopher Makoto Yogi’s “I Was a Simple Man” which stars Constance Wu (“Crazy Rich Asians”) and had its world premiere at this year’s Sundance film festival.A lyrical ghost story set in the lush, Hawaiian countryside, the film follows Masao (Steve Iwamoto) whose life is slowly fading away because of a terminal illness.

“How It Ends,” described in a statement as “an apocalyptic comedy” written and directed by Zoe Lister-Jones, has been acquired by MGM’s American International Pictures label following its Sundance Festival debut, MGM announced Monday.The film, produced by Zoe Lister-Jones with her husband Daryl Wein, was an official selection at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. AIP, which has acquired the worldwide rights, will released the film July 20 in the U.S.

Elaine Low Senior TV WriterTo highlight its Asian American and Pacific Islander creators and talent during AAPI Heritage Month, Netflix is launching a hub on the service dedicated to AAPI content, as well as a national ad campaign.The company joins other streaming services in spotlighting its AAPI shows and movies — HBO Max and Hulu are just two other streamers that debuted a dedicated collection of content featuring Asian Americans on screen.Netflix’s Celebrate Asian American & Pacific

EXCLUSIVE: Kino Lorber has acquired North American rights to Rosalynde LeBlanc and Tom Hurwitz’s feature documentary Can You Bring It: Bill T. Jones and D-Man in the Waters, which had its world premiere at DOC NYC in 2020.

Jacqueline Bisset is reflecting on her starring role in the 1968 classic movie, “Bullitt”. 

EXCLUSIVE: First Look Media’s streaming platform Topic has acquired North American rights to David White’s New Zealand-set quirky comedy feature This Town. 

EXCLUSIVE: Greenwich Entertainment has acquired North American distribution rights to The Phantom by BAFTA-winning director Patrick Forbes (The Force).

Patrick O’Connell was the founding director of Visual AIDS, where he developed programs for HIV/AIDS awareness including the red ribbon.O’Connell was a member of New York City’s gay community in the 1980s, when AIDS was ravaging that community but was rarely talked about elsewhere. The government was largely silent as the then-misunderstood disease killed many.

Billy Bragg, Lucy Dacus and more are performing at a series of events in support of the US PRO Act.The artists will appear at a new conversation and performance series which aims to raise awareness for the Protecting the Right to Organise Act (PRO Act).The act, which is supported by US President Joe Biden, aims to increase employee protections and union memberships.Organised by the Working Families Party, the ongoing Jammin’ for Jobs series will air on the Party’s Instagram page.

HBO Max series about DC character Green Lantern has found its lead actor in Finn Wittrock.The American Horror Story star will be playing Guy Gardner/Green Lantern in the new show based on the DC characters.Wittrock’s character has been described as “a hulking mass of masculinity” and “an embodiment of 1980s hyper-patriotism” according to Deadline.Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Seth Grahame-Smith will be writing Green Lantern, which is set to rework the DC characters and stories into a

Based on creator Crystal Moselle’s 2018 Sundance hit “Skate Kitchen,” the spiritual spin-off series—which in a way restarted the film as a series with much of the same cast— will return to HBO for a second season this June. Still helmed and created by Moselle, “Betty” follows five young women on journeys of self-discovery against the backdrop of New York City’s male-dominated skateboarding scene.

EXCLUSIVE: Lionsgate has acquired North American rights to Collin Schiffli’s thriller, Die in a Gunfight, with plans to release it as a multi-platform title this summer.

EXCLUSIVE: All the Streets Are Silent, a documentary portrait of the skateboarding and hip-hop scenes in New York in the late-1980s and early ’90s, has been acquired by Greenwich Entertainment.

Based on creator Crystal Moselle’s 2018 Sundance hit “Skate Kitchen,” the spiritual spin-off series—which in a way restarted the film as a series with much of the same cast— will return to HBO for a second season this June. Still helmed and created by Moselle, “Betty” follows five young women on journeys of self-discovery against the backdrop of New York City’s male-dominated skateboarding scene.

The United States has reversed another Donald Trump era ban, just in time for IDAHOBIT in May and Pride month celebrations in June.  The Joe Biden administration has authorised US embassies across the world to fly the rainbow Pride flag on the embassy or consulate flag poles along with the American flag. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a confidential cable to diplomatic posts around the world authorised diplomats to fly the Rainbow Pride flag, Foreign Policy reported last week. The cable

EXCLUSIVE: Magnolia Pictures International has acquired worldwide and U.S. sales rights to the comedic feature, Queen of Glory, which will make its world premiere at the 20th Tribeca Film Festival in June.

“Luke Cage,” BET’s “The Game” and the Fox medical drama “Rosewood.”“I just felt like I was going down this one lane where a lot of the casting directors were only seeing me for certain things … then, lo and behold, I get a text from Robin Thede and she says, ‘I’ve been following your career, I’m working on this show and I know that you’re hilarious and I don’t think the world knows that.’ Literally [this show] just fell into my lap kind of happenstance, and the timing couldn’t have been more

HBO Max is rounding out cast for its comedy pilot OK Boomer. Will Sasso (United We Fall, Mom) and Tim Chiou (I Was a Simple Man, Seal Team) are set as series regulars, along with Zoe Manarel (New Amsterdam, An American Girl: Summer Camp) and Carter Chee in the multi-camera comedy pilot from creator Todd Linden (Happy Endings, Alexa & Katie), the late Jamie Tarses’ Fanfare and Sony Pictures TV. They join previously announced series regulars Patti Lupone, Erinn Hayes and Devere Rogers.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentHulu has acquired U.S streaming rights to Sabrina Van Tassel’s timely documentary “The State of Texas vs. Melissa” which was selected for Tribeca in 2020 and has won a flurry of accolades, including Raindance’s best documentary award.Hulu acquired the documentary from FilmRise, which represents theatrical and digital rights to the film for North America, the U.K.