‘Pass Over’ Breakout Namir Smallwood on His Long Road to Broadway

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaHank Azaria has joined the cast of writer and director Neil LaBute’s upcoming feature “Out of the Blue.” The dramatic thriller, which also stars Diane Kruger and Ray Nicholson, will wrap principal photography this week in Rhode Island.Here’s the official description: “Out of the Blue” is a contemporary tale of passion, deceit, and violence.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaCAA has signed Jon “Boogz” Smith, a movement artist, choreographer and director whose work often blends modern technology with dance.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaWhen the New York Film Festival opens on Sept. 24, it will not only signal another key stop on the awards season circuit — it will be a key marker in New York City’s long, painful reemergence from COVID-19.“People are so hungry for communal experiences,” says Eugene Hernandez, the festival’s director.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaHeidi Blickenstaff will join the cast of “Jagged Little Pill” when the acclaimed musical returns to Broadway this fall. She will play the lead role of Mary Jane Healy, stepping into the part during the maternity leave of Tony-nominated original star Elizabeth Stanley.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaMoby will executive produce and provide music for “Meat the Future,” a new documentary about the revolutionary new practice of “cultivated” meat. In addition, conservation legend Dr.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaNothing is scarier than holiday shoppers in search of a deal. In that spirit, Screen Media has acquired “Black Friday,” an alien invasion holiday horror film ahead of its world premiere at Fantastic Fest this week.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaSaban Films is getting in the Nicolas Cage business.The studio has acquired “Butcher’s Crossing,” a frontier epic that stars the off-beat, Oscar winner as a buffalo hunter. The deal covers rights in North America, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Scandinavia.Gabe Polsky, who directed the documentary “Red Penguins,” slides behind the camera on this one.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and Media“Hold Your Fire,” Stefan Forbes’ gripping new documentary, details a tense standoff between police and four young African American men at a sporting goods store in Brooklyn, N.Y. Though set in 1973, the issues that Forbes’ film probes, ones of racism, police brutality and gun violence, remain fiercely urgent.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaOwen Teague had spent eight months in quarantine with his parents, sitting out the pandemic in Florida when the script arrived for “Montana Story.” The searing family drama was one of Teague’s first chances to anchor a film, and he leapt at the opportunity.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaNitehawk Cinema is expanding its programming team.The chain, which has branches in Williamsburg and Prospect Park, in Brooklyn, N.Y., has hired Cristina Cacioppo and Desmond Thorne to augment its programming staff.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaChris Petrikin has stepped down from his role as executive vice president of global communications and corporate branding at Paramount Pictures. His exit comes on the heels of the announcement this week that ViacomCBS is replacing studio chief Jim Gianopulos with Nickelodeon head Brian Robbins.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaSearchlight Pictures has promoted Taylor Friedman to senior vice president of production and elevated Richard Ruiz to vice president of production.Friedman, who has been with Searchlight since 2009, previously served as vice president of production, and Ruiz, who joined the indie label in 2015, previously served as director of production.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaClint Eastwood is often viewed more as an icon than an actor.In Sergio Leone films, he’s the “man with no name,” staring down adversaries with a deadly squint and a malevolent hint of a grin, his craggy face mirroring the rocky landscape of the Spanish countryside where the spaghetti westerns were shot.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaJaime King, Antonio Banderas and Tommy Flanagan have joined the cast of “Banshee,” an action film from director Jon Keeyes.The film follows a freelance assassin, codenamed Banshee (King), who is ambushed by Anthony Greene (Flanagan), a powerful mercenary who killed her father, and who is now seeking to collect a bounty on Caleb (Banderas), her former black ops mentor.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaDianne Doan has joined the cast of “Reunion.”The film centers on a murder that takes place during a high school reunion party and has already attracted a cast of comedy heavyweights and in-demand actors. Doan will appear alongside Lil Rel Howery, Billy Magnussen, Jillian Bell, Nina Dobrev, Jamie Chung, Michael Hitchcock and Chace Crawford.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaChristopher Nolan’s World War II film about J. Robert Oppenheimer and the development of the atomic bomb will be made by Universal Studios, marking the first time in over a decade that the director has not filmed a movie for Warner Bros.The director had been talking to several studios in recent weeks about the possibility of backing his drama, which carries a $100 million budget.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaIt was an acting challenge that Naomi Watts couldn’t pass up.In “Lakewood,” the Oscar-nominated star of such grueling exercises in cinematic heroics as “The Impossible” and “King Kong,” spends the bulk of the movie running through the forest, struggling with spotty cellphone reception while trying to make her way to her teenage son’s school, which is under lockdown with an active shooter.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaJannat Gargi has been named senior vice president and head of documentaries at Westbrook, where she will be tasked with making non-fiction features and premium series. She joins the media company from Vice Studios, where she most recently held the role of vice president of documentaries.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaBrian Robbins has officially been named president and CEO of Paramount Pictures, replacing Jim Gianopulos as head of the studio behind the “Mission: Impossible” and “Transformers” franchises.He will take the reins while continuing in his current post as head of Nickelodeon and as the chief content officer of kids and family for Paramount Plus, the streaming service launched this year by Paramount’s parent company ViacomCBS.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaLeslie Odom Jr. and Audra McDonald will split emceeing duties for the Tony Awards and the special celebration of all things Broadway that will accompany the annual handing out of statues.