Andrew Ahn Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

“Fire Island,” Hulu’s LGBTQ+ ensemble dramedy from writer and star Joel Kim Booster and director Andrew Ahn, will be recognized at the 32nd annual Gotham Awards with its Ensemble Tribute. In addition to Booster, the acclaimed Searchlight Pictures release co-stars “Saturday Night Live” Emmy nominee Bowen Yang alongside Conrad Ricamora, James Scully, Matt Rogers, Tomás Matos, Torian Miller, Nick Adams, Zane Phillips and Margaret Cho.

EXCLUSIVE: Conrad Ricamora, the actor, singer and writer known for turns in Searchlight/Hulu’s Fire Island and ABC’s How to Get Away with Murder, has signed with Paradigm for representation.

EXCLUSIVE: Film Independent has named Omer Ben Shachar, Mary Dauterman, MG Evangelista, Naomi Iwamoto, Thomas Kivney, Juan Paulo Laserna and Jhanvi Motla as the screenwriters selected for the 26th edition of its Screenwriting Lab, an intensive program designed to provide individualized story and career development for screenwriters with fiction feature scripts.Over the course of the program, Fellows will workshop their projects under the guidance of creative advisors Javier Fuentes-León, Phil Hay, Matt Manfredi, Jessica Sharzer, Jeff Stockwell and Christopher Makoto Yogi. Additional guest speakers and advisors will include Ruth Atkinson, Danielle Renfrew Behrens, Bridget Savage Cole, Lauren Craniotes, Ellie Foumbi, Priyanka Kapoor, Danielle Krudy, Amanda Marshall, Josh Peters, Jon Schumacher, Ellen Shanman, Lauren Shelton and Caddy Vanasirikul.

EXCLUSIVE: Former Mosaic manager Cullen Conly has joined Anonymous Content’s literary department as a manager and producer, based out of the company’s New York office. 

EXCLUSIVE: The Black List has named the six projects and seven screenwriters invited to their 2023 Annual Lab. The program, now in its eleventh year, provides creative mentorship and career support to promising feature writers as they further develop their scripts during a weeklong workshop in Ojai, CA.

It’s been quite a week for filmmaker Andrew Ahn. 

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor The SAG-AFTRA strike didn’t officially start until just after midnight on Friday, but Amandla Stenberg skipped the opening night of Outfest L.A. on Thursday in support of the movement. The star of the upcoming “Star Wars” series “The Acolyte” was expected to be on hand to receive the Platinum Maverick Award from the LGBTQ film festival, but Jacqueline Castel, director of the actor’s new indie, “The Animal,” accepted it on her behalf. “Amandla is deeply honored and would love to be here to celebrate with you, but she cannot be here today due to her support of the actors strike,” Castel said.

outfestla.org. Exactly Right Media is welcoming its new Roz Hernandez-led podcast “Ghosted! By Roz Hernandez” on July 17, Variety can exclusively reveal. Hernandez will have conversations with comedians, celebrity guests and paranormal professionals each week to discuss their own personal experiences with the supernatural. Slated guests include actor Busy Philipps, “My Favorite Murder” podcast co-host Georgia Hardstark, “Scam Goddess” host Laci Mosley and comedian Patton Oswalt.  “Ghosted!” will be available to listeners on all major podcast platforms.  “Roz Hernandez is a vibrant personality in the LA comedy scene. Her wit, vulnerability and wide-eyed exploration of the occult make her a perfect fit for the Exactly Right network,” said Karen Kilgariff, CEO of Exactly Right Media. “Roz allows her guests to dive deep into the eerie and unexplained with humor, curiosity and an open mind. We’re thrilled to share her unique voice and talents with the Exactly Right audience.” Hernandez is a transgender actor, comedian and paranormal enthusiast. “Ghosted!” is set to welcome varying guests including Bryan Fuller, Margaret Cho, Nicole Byer and “RuPaul’s Drag Race” winner Jinkx Monsoon.

GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics has named the winners of its 15th Dorian TV Awards with the final season of HBO’s Succession and ABC’s Abbott Elementary taking top drama and comedy honors, respectively. Succession star Sarah Snook also took the best drama performance trophy, while Max’s showbiz satire The Other Two was named Best LGBTQ TV Show.

The Tribeca Film Festival has announced the 2023 jury members in the 15 different competition categories for this year’s event. Those categories include film, immersive “storyscapes,” games, audio storytelling and more.

The Tribeca Festival, which gets under way Wednesday in New York, has announced members of the jury who will decide winners in 15 award categories.

Brent Lang Executive Editor The Tribeca Festival has unveiled the jury members who will select winning projects in the film, immersive, games and audio storytelling sections for its 2023 edition. It’s a collection of directors, writers, actors, producers and cultural leaders that includes Oscar winner Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”) and Oscar nominee Stephanie Hsu (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”). The A-list talent in the jury consists of actors such as Zoey Deutch (“The Politician”), Dianna Agron (“Glee”), Zazie Beetz (“Atlanta”), Kate Siegel (“Hush”), Nina Dobrev (“The Vampire Diaries”), Piper Perabo (“Covert Affairs”), Noah Centineo (“To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before”) and Chloë Grace Moretz (“Kick-Ass”). Chance the Rapper, playwright and screenwriter Jeremy O. Harris and multi-hyphenate filmmakers such Andrew Ahn, Mark Duplass, Stephen Kay and Clea DuVall are also among the jurors.

Naman Ramachandran The first clip has been unveiled for “Chasing Chasing Amy,” which will have its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival. In the feature documentary, Sav Rodgers takes a journey of self-discovery while making a documentary about Kevin Smith’s 1997 film “Chasing Amy” and its polarizing reputation among LGBTQ+ people. The film explores the transformational impact of the rom-com on a 12-year-old queer kid from Kansas, coming of age and to terms with his identity. For young Sav Rodgers, the cult classic became a life raft. As Rodgers examines the film and its making as a cornerstone of LGBTQ+ cinema, he finds himself at a complicated crossroads. 

Sometimes the cultural re-evaluation of a film can go both ways: For as much as viewers can say “Yes, this movie is actually good” they can also say “We see now it’s incredibly problematic.” Such is the case with director Kevin Smith’s 1997 feature “Chasing Amy,” which tells the story of a straight man (played by Ben Affleck) falling in love with a lesbian (played by Joey Lauren Adams). As director Sav Rodgers’ documentary, “Chasing Chasing Amy” explores in its first trailer: Can one enjoy a film that falls into stereotypes as often as it breaks them?“Chasing Chasing Amy” isn’t just a look at the Smith film but how it influenced Rodgers own journey of self-discovery.

The Sundance Institute on Thursday announced the fellows set for the 2023 edition of their Directors, Screenwriters and Native Labs. 

EXCLUSIVE: Film Independent on Wednesday named the eight screenwriters set for the 25th edition of their Screenwriting Lab. The latest cohort of the intensive program, designed to provide individualized story and career development for screenwriters with fiction feature screenplays, includes Bri Brooks, Karina Dandashi, Thais Drassinower, Chloé Hung, Adam Meeks, Nat Moonhill, Veronica Moonhill and Richard Van.

Live & Livid Tour, stays connected to younger perspectives, even if she’s just watching other people play. “I’m like, ‘How do you even figure this out?'” she says.

EXCLUSIVE: Film Independent, the nonprofit arts organization that produces the Film Independent Spirit Awards, shared today five short films directed by Fellows selected to participate in its Global Media Makers (GMM) Fall 2022 LA Residency. GMM is a mentoring initiative and cultural exchange program that fosters relationships between filmmakers and industry professionals in the U.S. and abroad. 

Film Independent, the nonprofit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards, has selected 30 filmmakers for Project Involve 2023 and with a renewed partnership with LAIKA Studios, expanded the stop-motion animation track into a two-year program, selecting five filmmakers. 

Fire Island” will receive The Gotham Film & Media Institute’s ensemble tribute during the 32nd annual Gotham Awards ceremony, Variety has learned exclusively. The announcement comes during the Gotham Week Conference, which concludes Sept. 23 in Brooklyn. The “Fire Island” cast includes Joel Kim Booster, Bowen Yang, Conrad Ricamora, James Scully, Matt Rogers, Tomás Matos, Torian Miller, Nick Adams, Zane Phillips and Margaret Cho. Directed by Andrew Ahn and written by Booster, the LGBTQ romantic comedy follows best friends Noah (Booster) and Howie (Yang) as they embark on a summer adventure with their eclectic group of friends to Fire Island Pines. Inspired by Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” the film explores queerness through a diverse, multicultural lens.

Film Independent today unveiled the three short films directed by fellows selected to participate in its Global Media Makers Spring 2022 LA Residency. (Watch them here.)

Clayton Davis Sophie Hyde’s “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande” had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January, receiving critical acclaim — particularly for its star Emma Thompson — with many calling her a potential Oscars best actress contender. But the British sex comedy, which was acquired by Searchlight Pictures and later released on Hulu June 17, became ineligible when the Academy reverted to its pre-pandemic requirements that a film must have a theatrical release of seven days before debuting on a streaming platform.However, Variety has now confirmed that Searchlight Pictures formally submitted an appeal to deem the film eligible, and the Academy has approved it for awards consideration.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorDoing press for “Fire Island” has been quite an emotional experience for James Scully, who plays Bowen Yang’s love interest in director Andrew Ahn’s new queer rom-com written by and starring Joel Kim Booster.“I have had these out of body moments where I’m like, remember when you thought you were going to have to pretend to be straight your whole life?” Scully tells me. “Remember when you thought that you were just going to have to find a really patient woman and marry her and just do the best that you could to make it work?”“Fire Island” is an LGBTQ take on Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice.” The all-queer cast also includes Matt Rogers, Margaret Cho, Conrad Ricamora, Tomás Matos, Torian Miller, Nick Adams and Zane Phillips.

Pride Month, is another addition to the growing slate of LGBTQ-themedromantic comedies. The upcoming film stars Keiynan Lonsdale, Dylan Sprouse and Sarah Hyland – and only ET has an exclusive sneak peek of the crazy things people do for love. Written by Luke Albright, Joe Wanjai Ross and Greg Boaldin and helmed by director Rose Troche, the movie follows Andrew (Lonsdale), who is trying to find a way to get over his toxic ex-boyfriend when meddling friends Jake (Sprouse) and Kelly (Hyland) get involved.

Andrew Ahn has the fall of Quibi to thank for being the director of “Fire Island.”

Bowen Yang perform a cover of Britney Spears’ “Sometimes” in the Hulu film . In true romcom fashion, the actor gets to bear all his emotions during a pivotal musical moment.While speaking to ET, writer and star Joel Kim Booster and director Andrew Ahn break down the epic moment. “It’s my favorite scene in the movie, for sure,” Booster says.As Howie, Yang takes the stage three quarters of the way through Booster’s queer, modern adaptation of to sing an unexpected version of the 1999 hit song while his friends, Luke (Matt Rogers) and Keegan (Tomás Matos), provide backup and add a little choreography to the scene. The scene comes near the end of their trip to the gay mecca as the limits of Howie and Noah’s (Booster) friendship have been tested by their unexpected and complicated romantic feelings for Charlie (James Scully) and Will (Conrad Ricamora), respectively.  When it comes to the song selection, “it was Bowen’s choice,” Booster says, explaining that the scene itself “was always written into this script [and] that Bowen would sing karaoke in that moment.” He adds, “I asked Bowen for a list of songs he’d be comfortable singing and ‘Sometimes’ was sort of the top choice.

, a queer, modern adaptation of, was first announced, it marked the first time a major film was being written and directed by as well as starring openly gay Asian people. In this case, that’s director Andrew Ahn, writer and star Joel Kim Booster and Bowen Yang. Later, the Hulu movie made news again when it revealed that it had filled out all the supporting roles with LGBTQ actors, including Margaret Cho, Matt Rogers and Conrad Ricamora. “Joel and I felt very committed to casting queer actors for this,” Ahn tells ET.

Michael Appler On Wednesday evening in New York City — about 60 miles and a ferry ride away from its subject— “Fire Island,” Joel Kim Booster’s romantic comedy about a weekend spent in New York’s chosen queer haven, held its premiere at the SVA Theatre.On 23rd Street in Chelsea, guests including Alok Viad-Menon, Jackie Cox, Peppermint and John Cameron Mitchell, as well as stars Bowen Yang, Matt Rogers, Conrad Ricamora and James Scully assembled to celebrate the film as part of New York’s NewFest Pride. You could have lifted the premiere’s guest list from any summer weekend spent at the Pines, something to be celebrated for a new film distributed by a gatekeeper studio like Searchlight Pictures.

A year into the COVID pandemic, out director Andrew Ahn received the script for Joel Kim Booster’s “Fire Island” and knew almost immediately he needed to make it.

While we’ve already hit some massive blockbuster tent poles for the summer season with superhero releases such as “Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness” and the Memorial Day showstopper “Top Gun: Maverick,” summer starts to hit its stride with June’s lineup of eclectic releases. Right off the bat, we’ve got heavy hitters such as the latest from Andrew Ahn and the buzzed-about David Cronenberg film, “Crimes of the Future” which just premiered at Cannes.

How do you write a queer romantic comedy? That is, not one where you merely gender flip a lead (“rom-com, but make it gay!”) but actually create a story that interrogates the very foundational tropes of the genre? If you’re Joel Kim Booster, you do so by adapting one of the most beloved Jane Austen novels of all time, the one whose recent big-screen adaptations have earned the likes of Keira Knightley and Renée Zellweger Oscar nominations.

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticIt’s a gross oversimplification of Jane Austen’s gift to suggest that her novels reduce to heteronormative matchmaking exercises, though all six end with their heroines getting hitched. (Austen herself never wed.

NewFest, the New York film and media organizations has announced the full lineup for its second annual NewFest Pride event – a summer film series returning this year from June 2-6 in a hybrid format featuring a mix of exclusive in-person premieres/panels and virtual screenings. The announcement was made today by NewFest’s Executive Director David Hatkoff and Director of Programming Nick McCarthy.

Holiday getaways aren’t always easy.

Netflix announced today that Joel Kim Booster’s stand-up special Joel Kim Booster: Psychosexual will debut on the streamer on June 21st.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorSearchlight Pictures’ queer romantic comedy “Fire Island” will have its world premiere on June 2 during NewFest’s NewFest Pride series.“We are thrilled to kick off our annual Pride month event with the world premiere of Andrew Ahn’s ‘Fire Island,’” NewFest executive director David Hatkoff said in statement on Thursday morning. “This joyful film captures the sexy, romantic, celebratory energy of the iconic NY gay enclave, and we can’t wait to celebrate with the film’s cast and creative team with a blow-out, prideful event in the heart of NYC.”Set in Fire Island, New York’s popular gay getaway Pines neighborhood and inspired by Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” the film stars Joel Kim Booster and Bowen Yang as best friends who are determined to have the ultimate summer adventure.