Leviathan Productions Appoints Isaac Katz As Vice President Of Production

EXCLUSIVE: Mark O’Brien (Your Honor) will exec produce and star in the coming-of-age drama Topper from 1A Motion Pictures and Bad Lad Productions, which has wrapped production in Detroit. Others set for major roles include Paul Johansson (God Is a Bullet), Amanda Clayton (City on a Hill), and actor-comedians Jimmy Shubert (Entourage), Bryan Callen (Warrior) and Erik Griffin (Workaholics).

EXCLUSIVE:  CESD’s NY Theatrical Department has hired longtime agent Danielle De Lawder as Vice President.

Paddy Considine (House of the Dragon, Peaky Blinders) and Mena Massoud (Aladdin, Jack Ryan) have signed on to star in the sports drama Giant, written and directed by Rowan Athale (The Rise, Gangs of London, Strange But True) with Sylvester Stallone and Braden Aftergood of Balboa Productions on board as executive producers.

EXCLUSIVE: Scott Free Productions has recently inked a 2-year extension for Justin Alvarado Brown to continue to serve as President and C.O.O. of the company through 2024. Brown will continue to oversee all dealmaking and operations for the company across film and television, as well as heading up strategic planning, primary responsibility for P&L, and all business and legal affairs matters for the company’s US and UK offices.

HBO’s Emmy Award-winning comedy Insecure, starring series’ co-creator Issa Rae and Yvonne Orji, will begin airing two back-to-back episodes on Tuesday night on OWN. It premieres on Tuesday, February 7 at 9:00 p.m. ET/ PT with the show’s pilot episode titled “Insecure As F**k.”

EXCLUSIVE: Producer Scott Einbinder (Killer Joe) has launched LA-based management and production company 5X Media.

Cecilia Vega is departing ABC News for CBS News and 60 Minutes, where she will be a correspondent.

EXCLUSIVE: Former Netflix exec Janice Lee has joined Fifth Studio as Vice President, Film Development and Production, with longtime team member Kara Duncan being promoted to the same role. The news comes as the global film and TV studio, formerly known as Endeavor Content, kicks off the year with four films heading to Sundance and another two soon heading to theaters.

Robert Pattinson’s production company Icki Eneo Arlo and LA-based independent production company Spacemaker Productions have joined the filmmaking team for Sebastian Silva’s outrageous black comedy Rotting In The Sun, starring Silva and comedian Jordan Firstman.

Welcome to Deadline’s International Disruptors, a feature where we shine a spotlight on the key executives and companies outside of the U.S. shaking up the offshore marketplace. This week, we’re talking with James and Soleta Rogan, the founders of prolific UK documentary indie Rogan Productions, with past credits including Black Power, Stephen: The Murder that Changed a Nation and Netflix’s My Daughter’s Killer. The pair discuss a rollercoaster 10 years in which they have secured multiple BAFTAs, worked with Steve McQueen and are now winning big business from the streamers.

Disney came out swinging Tuesday against Trian Partners and owner Nelson Peltz, the activist investor who’s pushing a proxy fight to take a seat on Disney’s board. “The current board is the right board for Disney shareholders,” the company said in a filing today with the SEC. “Nelson Peltz does not understand Disney’s business and lacks the skills and experience to assist the board in delivering shareholder value in a rapidly shifting media ecosystem.”

“Our people are scattered, like stars in the galaxy,” booms Pedro Pascal’s Din Djarin about his Mandalorian kin in the season 3 trailer for Disney+’s The Mandalorian.

EXCLUSIVE: After a busy year that included starring roles in Black Adam and the Netflix series The Recruit, Noah Centineo is looking to get busy on the producing side of things as he has launched his new company Arkhum Productions. He has also named producer Enzo Marc as Head of Production. Marc will oversee current development while also expanding the company’s slate. 

FX Boss John Landgraf said today at the network’s TCA day thatRyan Murphy’s American Story spinoff American Sports Story is “heading toward production.”

Noah Hawley’s long awaited Alien series will finally begin shooting this year.

White Cherry Entertainment will serve as the production team for the American Theatre Wing’s Tony Awards through 2026, cementing a relationship with Tony Award Productions that goes back to 2003.

EXCLUSIVE: Alejandra Vasquez and Sam Osborn, the directors behind the Sundance-bound feature documentary Going Varsity in Mariachi, have signed with WME.

Peaky Blinders producer Caryn Mandabach Productions has named former Eleventh Hour Films MD Nicole Finnan as Managing Director.