‘Platonic,’ ‘Twisted Metal’ Showrunners and Actors Talk Comedy at Variety’s Sony FYC Showcase

Kevin Brophy, whose credits include the TV series Lucan and films Hell Night and The Long Riders, died on May 11 at the age of 70, according to an online obituary. He had stage 4 cancer for ten years before succumbing at the family home in Rancho Santa Fe, California.

Jack Dunn When Donald Glover first approached showrunner Francesca Sloane about adapting “Mr. & Mrs. Smtih” for Amazon Prime, she “started laughing,” and thought it was a “weird Donald Glover joke that he randomly spit out.” She was confused as to why he would pick the 2005 action-comedy of all movies, but as the conversation evolved, the project began taking shape in her mind.

Jack Dunn While in development for the Amazon Prime drama “Expats,” creator, writer and director Lulu Wang knew she had to pay tribute to the lives lost during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Having been in China at that time as a child, she remembers how scared she was when her father nearly left to join the protest which ultimately led to the death of hundreds.

Emily Longeretta Romantic drama fans, unite. RomaDrama and Filmed in the South are teaming up for Halloween & Harvest Festival, bringing together fan-favorite actors from “The Originals,” “The Vampire Diaries” and beloved romantic movies seen on Hallmark Channel.

In this week’s episode of Bingeworthy, our TV and streaming podcast host Mike DeAngelo powers up to take on “The Boys.” The show is premiering its fourth season on Prime Video on June 13th and follows a group of vigilantes who set out to take down corrupt superheroes who abuse their superpowers. The show stars Karl Urban, Antony Starr, Jack Quaid, Erin Moriarty, Chace Crawford, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and more.

A post shared by Thomas Dutronc (@thomas.dutronc)While a cause of death has yet to be confirmed, Hardy revealed in June 2021 that she had been diagnosed with laryngeal cancer in 2018, following a lymphoma diagnosis in 2004, and said she felt “close to the end” of her life.As a musician, François Hardy broke out with the 1962 hit ‘Tous les garçons et les filles’, which topped the singles charts in her homeland of Paris and several other countries. The following year, she clinched her second hit ‘C’est à l’amour auquel je pense’.Besides French, Hardy also performed in English, German and Italian.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Françoise Hardy, a French singer, actor and model whose classical beauty and often melancholy music combined to transfix fans internationally in the 1960s and beyond, has died at age 80. Her son, Thomas Dutronc, also a musician, reported the death on his Instagram account, posting a baby photo of himself with his mother and writing: “Maman est partie.” Or, mom is gone.

BET Media Group’s FYC House was packed as it celebrated its impressive roster of shows submitted for Emmy consideration produced by BET and BET+. At the center of the evening, the legacy media company featured artists and creatives from some of its hit series on three-panel conversations: “The Women of BET,” “How We Made It,” and “Diarra from Detroit.” In a sold-out room of industry attendees, including members of the Television Academy, the talent shared stories about their journeys of working in the industry while facing rejection and collaborating and overcoming challenges with other creatives.

Jack Dunn When adapting “The Wheel of Time” for Amazon Prime Video, “everything begins and ends with character” for Sony’s head of creative Lauren Stein. “I think with any of these adaptations, whether it’s a game, whether it’s from a series of books, people come to these worlds for character, not for spectacle,” she added.

Do you remember the 2004 TV film “Sucker Free City?” Probably not. Despite being directed by Spike Lee, the film debuted with very little fanfare.

Tyler James Williams is shifting through poses in front of a photographer when Anthony Mackie appears on set, voice booming, to poke some fun. He asks Williams to coach him on pursing his lips like he’s Trey Songz. During their conversation, Williams outlines his path from “Everybody Hates Chris,” where he played the 13-year-old title character, to starring as first-grade teacher Gregory Eddie on ABC’s hit sitcom “Abbott Elementary.” In exchange, Mackie explains how he played an amnesiac named John Doe in Peacock’s video game adaptation “Twisted Metal,” and what it was like to take his Marvel character, Falcon, from film to TV and back.

CBS Chief George Cheeks on Paramount Global uncertainty and the future of Broadcast TV, a deep dive into the beloved reality TV series “Traitors,” a conversation about the 80th anniversary of D-Day with the “Masters of the Air” creators and a surprise “White Collar” reboot announcement. Check out a few of the conversations below: As part of the Variety TV FYC Fest, Dakota Fanning (“Ripley”), Jennifer Jason Leigh (‘Fargo”), Ricky Martin (“Palm Royale”), Lewis Pullman (“Outer Range”), Lisa Ann Walter (“Abbot Elementary”) and Greta Lee (“The Moring Show”) joined Variety senior TV features editor Emily Longeretta to discuss their supporting roles on some of this year’s hottest television shows.

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor Logan “Stan” Garner, a train coordinator for movie and TV productions who often played a train conductor on film, died May 20 in Arizona. He was 83. Born in Pasadena, he lived in Southern California until moving to Arizona in 2007.

Selena Kuznikov After Brian Wallach was diagnosed with ALS at 37, he and his wife Sandra Abrevaya founded a nonprofit organization to provide support to others diagnosed with the nervous system disease. Their documentary, “For Love & Life: No Ordinary Campaign,” follows Wallach and Abrevaya’s journey to founding the nonprofit I AM ALS, which seeks to empower and mobilize patients, engage with policy-makers, and offer vital resources for people impacted by ALS. The two, who also served as executive producers on the film, spoke at a panel about their journey creating the film.

Emily Longeretta “The Way Home” Season 2 ended with Kat (Chyler Leigh) and Jacob (Spencer Macpherson) about to walk into their home — but viewers may not see Del’s (Andie MacDowell) reaction right away. “We definitely can confirm that we do have to do a time jump, purely because of when we shoot,” co-showrunner Alexandra Clarke said during the show’s ATX TV Festival panel on Sunday, moderated by Variety. “We left them, obviously, in November of 2024, and we’re going to be shooting in August.

EXCLUSIVE: Jamie Neumann (The Deuce, Lovecraft Country) has been cast in Apple’s new 10-episode comedy starring and executive produced by Owen Wilson, and created, written by and executive produced by Jason Keller (Ford v Ferrari).

“Lessons in Chemostry”For Apple TV+’s limited series based on Bonnie Garmus’ novel, Brie Larson portrayed chemist Elizabeth Zott, who launched a feminist cooking show in the 1960s.“Fallout”In Amazon Prime Video’s postapocalyptic drama, Ella Purnell portrays Lucy, a young woman who leaves her vault to search for her kidnapped father.“Frasier”Kelsey Grammer returns to his famous role of Frasier Crane in the Paramount+ revival comedy series.“I’m a Virgo”In the Amazon Prime Video comedy, Jharrel Jerome portrays Cootie and is an executive producer.r Variety in April 2024 at the PMC Studio in Los Angeles“Black Mirror”In the third episode of Season 6 of the Netflix drama, Josh Hartnett portrays David Ross.“Parish”Giancarlo Esposito portrays Gracián “Gray” Parish and serves as an executive producer in AMC’s crime drama.“Loki”Tom Hiddleston returned to the Disney+ series as Loki, the God of Mischief, for the second season.“Girls5Eva”In the third season of the Peacock-turned-Netflix comedy, Renée Elise Goldsberry leads as Wickie/ Lesley Wiggins.“Fallout”Aaron Moten plays Maximus in the hit Amazon Prime Video series “Fallout,” based on the blockbuster video game.“Colin from Accounts”In CBS’ Australian comedy co-created by Harriet Dyer, she portrays the leading woman, Ashley, who hilariously falls for Gordon after an unlikely meet cute: a car accident.“Colin from Accounts”Patrick Brammall plays Gordon and executive produces the Paramount+ comedy.“Will Trent”Ramon Rodriguez portrays the title character in “Will Trent,” a gifted detective who struggles with a rough past.“3 Body Problem”In Netflix’s “3 Body Problem,” Alex Sharp plays Will, who makes the ultimate sacrifice for science.“Virgin River”In Netflix’s romantic drama, which

William Earl Variety’s 13th annual “A Night in the Writers’ Room” returns on June 13 in Los Angeles, featuring three panels moderated by Variety’s esteemed journalists Michael Schneider, Emily Longeretta, and Angelique Jackson, with this year’s Emmy-contending writers in the drama, comedy and limited series categories. An invite-only audience of industry voters will attend the event with a cocktail reception before the panels.

Find out who has been cast as Tim Allen‘s grandkids in an upcoming new series – Just Jared Jr Could Princess Catherine be absent from public duties all year? – Celebitchy What are the contestants from Netflix’s Glow Up up to now? – Popsugar Former Wicked Broadway star reacts to the movie trailer – Just Jared Jr

Netflix has acquired the legal drama “Monsanto,” a buzzy package from this year’s Cannes Film Festival. John Lee Hancock (“The Blind Side,” “Saving Mr. Banks”) directed the movie, which stars Glen Powell, Anthony Mackie and Laura Dern.