Justin Wilkes Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

EXCLUSIVE: Imagine Entertainment has hired Jeb Brody to be President of Imagine Features. Brody had most recently been President of Amblin Partners, which was downsized by Steven Spielberg. Imagine founders Brian Grazer and Ron Howard are bringing Brody aboard to lean more heavily into feature films.

EXCLUSIVE: Imagine Entertainment co-chairmen Brian Grazer and Ron Howard have entered into a multi-year co-financing and production partnership with Fifth Season and their co-CEOs Graham Taylor and Chris Rice.

Sony Picture Classics and Trafalgar Releasing have firmed up worldwide release plans for Carlos, their feature documentary on 10-time Grammy-winning musical icon, Carlos Santana.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor About six years ago, Imagine Entertainment went on a diversification push to add top-shelf documentary and nonfiction content to the company’s roster, as well as kids and family entertainment and branded creative marketing, among other content-related businesses. The timing was spot-on. Imagine has been able to grow along with the boom in demand for original content from platforms, not just in the U.S.

It’s been a banner Emmy nomination day for Imagine Entertainment, the company notching 14 noms across a variety of categories including Outstanding Scripted Variety Series and Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special. 

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Apple TV+ is bringing Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington back to the screen in a new four-part documentary “The Super Models.” The documentary from Imagine Documentaries and One Story Up is directed by Academy Award-winner Roger Ross Williams and Larissa Bills. The series follows the legends of the catwalk as they reveal how they began their careers and ended up dominating the modeling world. Archival footage and interviews provide unprecedented access. As the logline for the series reads, “‘The Supermodels’ travels back to the 1980s, when four women from different corners of the world united in New York. Already forces in their own right, the gravitas they achieved by coming together transcended the industry itself. Their prestige was so extraordinary that it enabled the four to supersede the brands they showcased, making the names Naomi, Cindy, Linda and Christy as prominent as the designers who styled them. Today, the four supermodels remain on the frontlines of culture through activism, philanthropy and business prowess. As the fashion industry continues to redefine itself – and women’s roles within it – this is the ultimate story of power and how four women came together to claim it, paving the way for those to follow.”

BreAnna Bell Rudy Valdez has entered into an overall unscripted deal with Imagine Documentaries, Variety has learned. Under the agreement, Valdez will develop, direct and executive produce new nonfiction projects for the studio through his Bluff Road Films banner. The two time Emmy Award-winning filmmaker started his career as a camera operator on the Peabody Award-winning, Sundance series “Brick City” and went on to direct his passion project on HBO’s “The Sentence.” Shot and directed by Valdez over the course of a decade, this feature documentary tells the very personal story of his sister’s plight in the criminal justice system, while tackling subjects like mandatory minimums and sentencing reform.

William Earl An interview series hosted by Isaac Mizrahi, a workplace improv comedy created by Ron Howard and a true-crime deep dive into a notorious murder case from L.A.’s early 1980s punk rock scene with Penelope Spheeris highlight the first slate of original podcasts produced by Imagine Entertainment through its joint venture with radio and podcasting giant iHeartMedia. Imagine and iHeart set a podcast production deal in December 2021. The first fruits of that partnership debut today with the launch of “Hello Isaac,” a weekly interview series featuring the fashion and media entrepreneur sitting down with notable figures such as Carson Kressley and Andy Cohen. New episodes will debut Mondays.

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired worldwide rights to “Carlos,” a feature-length documentary film about the father of Latin American jazz fusion and global icon, Carlos Santana, the company announced on Wednesday.The documentary is directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Rudy Valdez (“The Sentence,” “We Are: The Brooklyn Saints.”) Featuring never-before-seen or heard archival footage and music, the film offers an intimate and exhilarating look inside the mind of an elemental force of contemporary music and tell the incredible story of Santana’s life – from a fourteen-year-old street musician to a ten-time Grammy-winning and three-time Latin Grammy-winning global sensation.Jointly financed by Imagine Documentaries and Sony Music Entertainment, “Carlos” is produced by Sara Bernstein and Justin Wilkes along with Lizz Morhaim and executive produced by Academy Award-winning producers Brian Grazer and Ron Howard for Imagine Documentaries. Leopoldo Gout, Ashley Kahn and Sam Pollard also serve as Producers.

Sony Pictures Classics has snapped up worldwide rights to Carlos, a new documentary about the father of Latin American jazz fusion, Carlos Santana. A release date for the film directed by Emmy winner Rudy Valdez (The Sentence) has not yet been disclosed.

Amazon Studios has closed an exclusive multiyear first-look film deal with Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment, the company announced on Friday.Under the pact, Amazon Studios will have a first look on narrative features and documentaries Imagine Entertainment intends to produce.“Whether it’s a captivating drama like ‘Thirteen Lives’ or a poignant documentary like ‘Lucy and Desi,’ the team at Imagine Entertainment has an incredible gift for storytelling,” Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon and MGM Studios said in a statement. “As we look forward to more exciting projects on the horizon, we are honored to make our longstanding relationship official and to bring more powerful, engaging stories to audiences around the world.”“Brian, Ron, and I, along with our entire team at Imagine including Karen Lunder, President of Imagine Features, and Sara Bernstein, President of Imagine Documentaries, couldn’t be more excited to have a home at Amazon and continue our shared desire to make tentpole films that inspire, elevate, and entertain audiences,” Justin Wilkes, President of Imagine Entertainment added.

EXCLUSIVE: Amazon Studios has closed an exclusive multiyear first-look film deal with Imagine Entertainment. In making Amazon its new movie home, co-founders Brian Grazer and Ron Howard will give Amazon first look on narrative features and documentaries Imagine intends to produce.

,'” said Scorsese. “Then and now, David’s music captures the energy and excitement of New York City.

Julia MacCary editor Prime Video dropped the trailer for the documentary “Judy Blume Forever,” which depicts the author’s childhood to her prolific career creating acclaimed books that have met controversy. Blume is the literary juggernaut behind dozens of children, young adult and adult fiction novels, including “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,” “Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing” and “Blubber.” The documentary dives into specific titles and examines their impact. While Blume’s work has provided comfort to many readers, her candid approach to topics such as puberty, masturbation and sex has led some titles to become banned, which the author continues to fight against.

Cue the menacing tuba. And the Imperial March. And the rousing Indiana Jones theme. Five-time Oscar-winning composer John Williams is getting the feature documentary treatment, and his half-century collaborator is among those wielding the baton.

EXCLUSIVE: Justin Wilkes, Chief Strategy Officer of Imagine Entertainment and President of Imagine Documentaries and Brands, has been promoted to President of the company, headed by Executive Chairmen Brian Grazer and Ron Howard.

Justin Wilkes, chief strategy officer of Imagine Entertainment and president of Imagine Documentaries and Brands, has been promoted to president. The company is headed up by Executive Chairmen Brian Grazer and Ron Howard.With Wilkes’ promotion, co-president of documentaries Sara Bernstein has been named president of documentaries, leading the division.

EXCLUSIVE: Imagine Television is developing a thriller drama for Netflix based on The Washington Post story “A U.S. murder suspect fled to Mexico. The Gringo Hunters were waiting,” by Kevin Sieff.

Apple Original Films has released the trailer for “Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues,” a revealing documentary about the beloved jazz legend. Offering an intimate, never-before-seen look at the world-changing musician, and presented through a lens of archival footage and previously unheard home recordings and personal conversations, the documentary will premiere in select theaters and stream globally on Apple TV+ on Oct.

EXCLUSIVE: The Washington Post and Imagine Entertainment have entered into a strategic partnership to create scripted and non-scripted film and television properties culled from The Post’s vast archives, current reporting, and ongoing investigations. The multi-year deal gives Imagine an exclusive first-look to develop and produce all projects through the venture. Creative Artists Agency, which represents both entities, brokered the deal and will harness its resources and expertise to help expand The Post’s storytelling opportunities with Imagine across multiple formats. Washington Post Publisher and CEO Fred Ryan will oversee the deal with Imagine Entertainment Executive Chairman Brian Grazer and Chief Strategy Officer Justin Wilkes.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterLatin American jazz fusion icon Carlos Santana will be the subject of an expansive documentary directed by Emmy winner Rudy Valdez.Imagine Documentaries is collaborating with Sony Music Entertainment on the project, who is co-financing and handling distribution. It will follow Santana’s journey from 14-year-old street musician to a 10-time Grammy winning global sensation, and feature unseen archival footage and tracks.Valdez is the director of the Sundance documentary audience award winner “The Sentence,” about the corrosive effect of mandatory minimum sentencing on convicts and their families.

Julie Cohen and Betsy West’s Julia Child documentary JULIA is to be given a linear TV showing on CNN later this month.

David Letterman’s Emmy-nominated talk show series “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman” is set to return on May 20, Netflix announced on Thursday.The fourth season of the Netflix original series will feature six episodes and a new selection of guests, including Cardi B, Kevin Durant, Billie Eilish, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ryan Reynolds and Will Smith.The show features one-on-one conversations with the legendary talk show host and the celebrity guest inside and outside a studio setting. Season four comes after a long absence from the series, as season three premiered almost 18 months ago in October of 2020.Notably, the streamer has announced that all of the episodes were filmed prior to March 2022; that means that there will be no talk of the infamous Will Smith-Chris Rock Oscars slap that occurred on March 27.

Will Smith will sit down with David Letterman for his latest round of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction.

I Love Lucy premiered on CBS more than 70 years ago, but time hasn’t diminished its appeal. The show starring real-life couple Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz is still consistently ranked among the greatest sitcoms of all time.

EXCLUSIVE: Oscar winners Ron Howard and Brian Grazer are teaming up with Disney Original Documentary for what is promised as the “definitive portrait” of Jim Henson, the legendary creator of the Muppets.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterChildren’s and young adult literary juggernaut Judy Blume will be the subject of an untitled feature documentary from Amazon Prime Video and Imagine Documentaries, Variety has learned exclusively.Framed as a coming-of-age tale of Blume and the generations of readers who have sparked to her work, the film will cover 50 years and many of her bestselling titles including, “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,” “Blubber,” “Superfudge,” “Tiger Eyes,” “Wifey,” “Forever…,” “Summer Sisters” and more. It will also examine her impact on pop culture at large, and the occasional controversies over Blume’s frankness about puberty and sex.

Addie Morfoot ContributorRory Kennedy and Mark Bailey’s Moxie Films has partnered with Imagine Documentaries to develop and co-produce a slate of new nonfiction fare.The partnership with the nonfiction division of Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment and Moxie Films is a multi-year agreement.Headed by Sara Bernstein and Justin Wilkes, Imagine Documentaries recently co-produced Kennedy’s “Downfall: The Case Against Boeing,” which Bailey wrote and produced. The Netflix docu, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January, is an investigation of two Boeing 737 Max crashes that occurred within five months of each other in 2018 and 2019 that killed a combined 346 people.

Two days after Super Bowl LVI and two weeks after Tom Brady’s retirement comes word of a new docuseries about the GOAT quarterback’s years with the New England Patriots. Apple TV+ has ordered The Dynasty, a 10-part docuseries about the NFL team’s amazing run of success.

J. Kim Murphy “The Dynasty,” a documentary series about the professional football team the New England Patriots, has been ordered by Apple, the company announced on Tuesday. The event series comes from Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Documentariess, in association with NFL Films.The series focuses on the decadent two-decade period when the Patriots were successfully led by quarterback Tom Brady, head coach Bill Belichik and owner Robert Kraft.

Sam Pollard, the Peabody winning director of “Mr. Soul!” and “Sammy Davis, Jr.: I Gotta Be Me,” has set another documentary feature called “The Sound of Philadelphia” about music icons Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff and Thom Bell and the musical genre they helped proliferate, Philly Soul.

EXCLUSIVE: The story of Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, and Thom Bell, who created the sound of Philly Soul, is to be chronicled in a new feature documentary.

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorImagine Entertainment has expanded the purview of Imagine Documentaries chief Justin Wilkes to overseeing new business development as chief strategy officer for the independent content powerhouse.The move for Wilkes comes as Imagine Entertainment is actively seeking an influx of capital to fund its ambitious growth plans. The company headed by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer since 1986 is looking to bring in a new financial investor that will allow Imagine to continue operating status quo with its current management team.At present, Imagine is in talks with U.K.-based Centricus Asset Management about a sale that would value the company at around $700 million.

Imagine Entertainment is launching a podcast division and has struck a deal with iHeartMedia.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterImagine Entertainment is launching a new audio division tied to an exclusive deal with iHeartMedia.The film and TV company’s chairmen Brian Grazer and Ron Howard announced Tuesday that Imagine will co-produce a slate of unscripted podcasts for the digital giant.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterThe acclaimed filmmakers behind HBO Max’s recent nonfiction hit “Tina” have inked an exclusive first-look deal with Imagine Documentaries.Dan Lindsay and TJ Martin have entered into a one-year agreement with the division of Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine, it was announced today by leaders Justin Wilkes and Sara Bernstein.Under the deal, Lindsay and Martin will develop and produce projects with the full resources of the label, which currently has its own