Franklin Leonard Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

EXCLUSIVE: Georgia has been one of the top Hollywood production spots in America for years, and now the Black List are putting some of the Peach State’s finest front and center.

Even as he collected his martini, the burly stranger who introduced himself as “Joe” exuded an aura of belligerence. We were standing on the fringe of a post-screening reception, so, hand extended, I blurted, “Did the movie work for you?”

Exclusive: The Georgia List, which highlights the most promising unmade scripts from writers with close ties to the state of Georgia, has opened its second round of submissions (through June 15, 2024). Writers with close ties to the state of Georgia are invited to submit a feature film script, pilot, play, or musical for consideration by uploading it to the Black List website during this period. Writers who upload their scripts to blcklst.com must choose to opt in their scripts for The Georgia List.

Simon Stephenson sent an email to the Writers Guild of America’s senior director of credits Lesley Mackey asking to set up a call to discuss an important matter. The CAA-repped writer, whose credits include Pixar’s “Luca” and StudioCanal’s “Paddington 2,” wrote, “I’ve encountered a credits-related issue on quite a high profile WGA-covered project.” According to the email exchange reviewed by Variety, a call between the two took place, and, in a follow-up missive, Stephenson wrote, “the evidence the holdovers screenplay has been plagiarised line-by-line from frisco is genuinely overwhelming – anybody who looks at even the briefest sample pretty much invariably uses the word ‘brazen.’” Stephenson was referring to his own screenplay “Frisco,” a drama centered on a world-weary middle-aged children’s doctor and the 15-year-old patient he gets stuck looking after, and David Hemingson’s “The Holdovers” — a drama revolving around a world-weary middle-aged boarding school teacher and the 15-year-old pupil he gets stuck looking after.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Riley Keough, Bob Odenkirk and Danny Ramirez will star in a live reading of the Oscar-nominated drama “Anatomy of a Fall,” as will Jay Ellis, Kate Berlant, Quincy Isaiah and Olivia Wilde. Keough (“Daisy Jones & the Six”) takes on the lead role of Sandra, which earned Sandra Hüller an Oscar nomination for best actress at the upcoming Academy Awards. In addition to the human cast, the movie’s dog Messi will reprise his role as Snoop.

EXCLUSIVE: The Black List and Google today revealed the four writers who were selected as the inaugural Black List x YouTube Originals Black Voices Creator Fellows. The recipients are Beverly Chukwu, Shannon Hawkins, Brandon Hines, and Duchant Johnson. More information about the Fellows is below.

EXCLUSIVE: As they should, the Black List will be celebrating its 20th anniversary with some of Hollywood’s most acclaimed artists and a cinema institution next year.

Caroline Brew editor The American Cinematheque announced the honorees for the third annual Tribute to the Crafts, which include “Oppenheimer” for cinematography and editing, “Poor Things” for costume design and “I’m Just Ken” from “Barbie” for song. The event will take place on Jan. 19, 2024, at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer At the close of a particularly fraught year for Hollywood screenwriters, Monday saw the release of the annual Black List – a ranking of the top unproduced scripts in show business. Voted on by nearly 400 creative executives, this year’s favorite project that has yet to receive a greenlight is “Bad Boy” by Travis Braun, described simply as the tale of a rescue dog who suspects his loving new owner is a serial killer.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Michael Latt, a film marketing consultant who worked closely with Ryan Coogler and Common on a series of social justice campaigns, was shot and killed at his home on Monday night, the LAPD has confirmed. Latt, 33, was the founder and CEO of Lead With Love, a social impact marketing agency. In addition to Coogler and Common, he worked with Ava DuVernay, Barry Jenkins, and studios like Warner Bros.

Tubi announced a first-of-its-kind partnership with the Black List on the To Be Commissioned Initiative to provide both emerging and established writers with the opportunity to submit their screenplays intended to be developed, produced and distributed by Tubi. Tubi is commissioning five scripts that speak to young, diverse audiences that fit into one of the following genres: Sci-Fi, Faith, Comedy, Romance and Wild Card (any genre) which allows for the inclusion of a great script that may not fall within the other specified genres. Writers can submit their entries by visiting HERE beginning today and the submission program will run through March 15, 2024.

he said that the WGA and SAG-AFTRA’s conditions were “just not realistic” and that the prospect of a writers and actors strike was “very disturbing.”Iger’s comments come on a historic day, when SAG-AFTRA is expected to announce they are joining WGA on the picket lines after their Wednesday contract negotiations deadline passed without a deal. It would be the first Hollywood double strike in sixty years.Also notable for context, Iger’s comments arrive the day after his Disney contract was extended for an additional two years.

Deadline’s Strike Talk podcast is now at Week 8, as we complete a stretch in which the standoff between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers passed the 50-day mark, halfway to the 100-day dispute that decimated Hollywood in 2007 and the 253-day dispute of 1988.

The skies are cloudy over LA and thick over NYC today, but for over 1,000 studio and “struck companies” staffers their Black List membership just went dark.

The Black List and the GM Incubator Fund have today announced the launch of a new Writer-Driven Shorts Program, which will provide two emerging, diverse filmmakers with $100,000 grants enabling production on shorts based on their feature script. General Motors will provide both selected filmmakers with vehicles for use in their shorts, which will ultimately be submitted to major festivals and aim for 2024 awards consideration.

Vanity Fair party. And this year, you can join the action with not one but two live streams from the red carpet.First up, at 9 p.m.

AAFCA and BAFTA in North America announced a joint program designed to engage Black creatives and entertainment executives in the U.S. and U.K. around their shared challenges in the industry. Titled “The Struggle to be Seen,” the discussion series will offer a deep dive into topics, sectors and industry roles faced by both groups within current industry structures and systems.

Yahoo! Entertainment when asked if he was concerned with being labeled as a “nepo baby,” a term implying that some children of celebrities are only successful because of their famous parent’s nepotism. Penn, who stars in “Devil’s Peak” alongside his mother, recalled discussing the topic while on set for “Let Me Go the Right Way,” a 2022 short film that critics tagged as a “nepotism film” due to its involvement with director Destry Allyn Spielberg, the daughter of Steven Spielberg, and writer Owen King, the son of Stephen King.“It came up when we were shooting,” Penn said.

EXCLUSIVE: Chandus Jackson has been selected as the inaugural recipient of the Writers Program fellowship from CBS Studios/NAACP Production Venture and The Black List.

EXCLUSIVE: 2022 finalists for the Latinx List, showcasing top works by up-and-coming Latinx screenwriters, have been unveiled by The Latin Tracking Board, NALIP, the Untitled Latinx Project, and The Black List.

MGM and The Black List have named Alex Liu as the third recipient to receive a two-step Guild minimum open script deal as part of their two-year feature film script writing partnership.

EXCLUSIVE: The Black List and Google today announced the joint creation of the Black List x YouTube Originals Black Voices Creator Fellowship.

The Black List will assist CBS Studios/NAACP in identifying a shortlist of talented writers who exemplify authentic storytelling of Black narratives through a submission period on blcklst.com that begins August 16 and is open until Nov. 16.

EXCLUSIVE: Talk show reunions, heartland justice, stateside backlash to the 1970s Iranian hostage crisis, and faith vs a child’s transgender identity are among the stories that make up the second annual Muslim List.

The CAA Amplify summit will make its in-person return on June 22 featuring speakers across entertainment, sports, media, technology, and social justice.

EXCLUSIVE: Back for a third year, the Latinx List has added some significant streamer sinew for 2022.

The American Cinematheque has announced David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, is the newest addition to the group’s board of directors.Zaslav spearheaded the recent transaction between AT&T and Discovery, Inc.

Angelique Jackson The late pioneering Black businessman Reginald F. Lewis is getting the biopic treatment from Charles D.

EXCLUSIVE: The project will be based on the best-selling autobiography of the same title by the pioneering Black businessman Reginald F. Lewis.The drama will chronicle the story of how Reginald F. Lewis rose to become the richest Black American in the United States. Based on the bestselling autobiography, Why Should White Guys Have All the Fun? It will follow Lewis breaking glass ceilings from Baltimore to Harvard to Wall Street to Kansas to Paris, from boardrooms to family homes to lavish soirees, up until his tragic, sudden death from a brain tumor at the height of his powers. It will also portray how systemic racism takes a toll on the progression of social status for Black Americans.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterGLAAD and The Black List have released their third-ever specialty report celebrating LGBTQ+ inclusive stories.Exclusive to Variety, the list includes work from 12 notable out creators in film, along with eight television pilots. The Black List is an annual ranking of the best unproduced screenplays in Hollywood.

Vanity Fair, describing her love of Regency-era novels written by authors like Jane Austen. “They were defying odds in their time.” The Slumdog Millionaire star studied English literature in college, poring over classic works and envisioning herself one day portraying such characters in adaptations on the big screen. Now she is, in the romantic new drama Mr. Malcolm’s List, directed by first-time feature filmmaker Emma Holly Jones and costarring Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù as the titular hero.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock over the past week, you’ve probably heard that Russia invaded Ukraine in an unprovoked violent manner. All over social media, you’ve likely seen just about everyone from A-list celebrities to your crazy Uncle talk about the potential for another catastrophic World War III scenario.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky voiced Paddington Bear in the country’s version of the 2014 film and its 2017 sequel.

EXCLUSIVE: J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot is partnering with The Black List on a new initiative that will provide 500 writers from historically underrepresented communities with access to the Black List website, offering them the opportunity to receive feedback on their original work that they might not otherwise be able to acquire.

Mystery Men.“That’s the first I’m hearing of it, but sure. I’m all for it. I had fun doing it,” he told ComicBook.

MGM and The Black List have selected Jennifer Grand as the second recipient to receive a two-step guild minimum blind script deal.