Sundance Action Comedy ‘First Date’ Picked Up by Magnet Releasing

Netflix movie Wedding Season has secured the talents of both Rizwan Manji and Ari Afsar. The two actors are known for their roles in Schitt's Creek (Manji played Ray Butani) and Hamilton (Afsar brought Eliza Hamilton to life on stage in Chicago).

Class is in session for Quinta Brunson’s ABC school comedy pilot. Tyler James Williams (The United States vs. Billie Holiday), Janelle James (The Comedy Lineup), Chris Perfetti (The Night Of), Lisa Ann Walter (The Parent Trap) and Sheryl Lee Ralph (Instant Mom) round out the series regular cast, joining creator, star and exec producer Brunson in the pilot from Justin Halpern, Patrick Schumacker, Warner Bros. TV and 20th Television.

EXCLUSIVE: Fox is developing an untitled single-camera comedy written by and starring The Daily Show correspondent Roy Wood, Jr. He will executive produce the project with fellow actor-comedian Denis Leary as well as Jack Leary via the father-son duo’s Amoeba production banner. Fox Entertainment is the studio.

Sharon Horgan and Clelia Mountford’s British production company Merman is teaming with Paul Feig and Lionsgate to remake the popular BBC Two comedy Motherland for an American audience.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorElsa Majimbo, comedian and social-media phenom, has signed with CAA for representation in all areas.A native of Kenya, Majimbo attracted worldwide attention during last year’s COVID-19 lockdowns with her funny, pared-down Instagram monologues — coupled with her contagious laugh, tiny sunglasses and predilection for potato crisps (which Americans call “chips”).

EXCLUSIVE: Rizwan Manji (Schitt’s Creek) and Ari Afsar (Hamilton) have joined the cast of Netflix comedy Wedding Season. They will star alongside Suraj Sharma (Life Of Pi) and Pallavi Sharda (Tom & Jerry), as Deadline previously revealed. 

Danny Glover, Matt Dillon, Danny Pudi and Michelle Mylett joined the cast of American Dreamer, the Paul Dektor-directed dark comedy that has just gotten underway in Vancouver. The actors join Peter Dinklage, Shirley MacLaine and Kim Quinn on the Ted Melfi scripted film. Dinklage, David Ginsberg, Quinn, Melfi and Dektor are producing along with Flying Firebird.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorARRI Media has closed a deal with Crescendo House – a new boutique distribution company – for North American rights on Marxist vampire comedy “Bloodsuckers,” following its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival.The film, which screened as part of the Berlinale’s Encounters section, was written and directed by Julian Radlmaier.Radlmaier’s script was praised by the jury as being “extravagant, bizarre, and hilarious” when he was presented with the

Haley Bosselman editorFollowing the murders of eight people — six being Asian women — Tuesday night at three separate Atlanta-area spas, Hollywood is calling for action to #StopAsianHate.This comes after several months of celebrities and activists calling for such action as attacks against Asian Americans rose amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “The racist, verbal and physical assaults have left my community fearful to step outside,” Olivia Munn wrote in an Instagram post on Feb.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Utopia Media, the fledgling sales and distribution company co-founded by filmmaker Robert Schwartzman, has picked up North American rights to artist Amalia Ulman’s debut feature ‘El Planeta.’ The dark comedy was one of the buzz titles at Sundance’s World Dramatic competition.Danielle DiGiacomo, Utopia’s Head of Content commented: “Amalia Ulman’s “El Planeta” is a pure, transportive cinematic experience that is deceptively simple in its construction, yet so layered with

OWN is developing the network’s first animated comedy series The Mound from Munirah Safiyah Jones — who is no stranger to the animation space. Jones is the creator of OWN’s NAACP Image Award-nominated animated short form series Sincerely, Camille and the viral hit Junt Land.

R.I.P…

EFM Deal For Street Gang: How We Got To Sesame Street

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentFilm Movement has acquired North American rights to Cathy Yan’s feature debut “Dead Pigs” which won the Special Jury Prize at Sundance in 2018. Film Movement will release the film in North America in theaters, virtual cinema, home entertainment and digital platforms in June.“Dead Pigs” is social satire about the trials and tribulations connecting a disparate group of people in the midst of a baffling nationwide mystery.

BTS have donated a set of outfits worn in their ‘Life Goes On’ music video to the Grammy Week Auction.The first-time Grammy nominees contributed seven outfits, which will be auctioned online from March 8 to March 23 through Charitybuzz. The total value of the clothing is currently estimated to be around US$30,000 (~£21,600).Proceeds from successful bids will go towards the non-profit Grammy Museum Foundation, which supports music education initiatives.

The genre arm of Magnolia Pictures, Magnet Releasing, has picked up the North American rights to Sundance action-comedy First Date. The feature, which premiered in the fest's NEXT section, centers on a shy teen (Tyson Brown) who is conned into buying a shady ‘65 Chrysler ahead of his eagerly anticipated first date with his longtime crush,Kelsey (Shelby Duclos), which is interrupted by a relentless series of mishaps and crimes.

the upcoming CW drama series, led by ' Olivia Liang and legendary actor Tzi Ma, and only ET exclusively premieres the action-packed minute-long promo. (See the first photos from .)A modern-day reimagining of the 1970s series and starring a predominantly Asian cast, follows a young Chinese American woman, Nicky Shen (Liang), who drops out of college and goes on a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaMTV Documentary Films has acquired North American rights to “Sabaya,” the story of volunteers of the Yazidi Home Center, who risk their lives in order to save women and girls held by ISIS as sex slaves.The film received a directing award for world cinema documentary when it premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. “Sabaya” is directed and produced by Stockholm-based filmmaker Hogir Hirori and also produced by Antonio Russo Merenda.

Forrest Gump was used to argue for the release of the “QAnon Shaman” by his lawyer.Jacob Chansley – aka Jake Angeli, dubbed the “QAnon Shaman” – is currently in custody in Arizona, after being arrested for his involvement in the storming of the US Capitol in Washington D.C. in January.Chansley is facing charges of interfering with police during a civil disorder, obstruction of Congress and several counts of various misdemeanours.

Cultures collide in a sneak peek at “United States of Al”, a new CBS sitcom with a unique fish-out-of-water premise.