‘The Loudest Voice’ Showrunner Alex Metcalf Inks TV & Film Overall Deal With Blumhouse, Talks About Series’ Resonance In 2020 Election Cycle

Denise Petski Senior Managing EditorEXCLUSIVE: Producer, motivational speaker and bestselling author DeVon Franklin (Breakthrough) is expanding his work in television, signing an overall deal with CBS TV Studios.Franklin serves as President & CEO of Franklin Entertainment production company, which has a multi-year first-look film deal with Paramount Pictures and a second-look deal with Netflix.

Denise Petski Senior Managing EditorGrown-ish star Yara Shahidi is expanding her relationship with ABC Studios. Shahidi and her business partner and mother, Keri Shahidi, have signed an exclusive overall deal with the studio behind the hit series to develop and produce scripted and alternative television projects for cable, streaming and broadcast via their newly launched production company 7th Sun.

David Robb Labor EditorEXCLUSIVE: The WGA has wrapped up successful negotiations on two fronts in the past few weeks, getting UTA to break ranks with the other Big Four agencies by signing the guild’s franchise agreement and hammering out a new three-year film and TV contract with management’s AMPTP. And WGA West president David A.

Peter White Television EditorRosario Dawson-fronted drama Briarpatch is not returning for a second season.The freshman drama series has been canceled at USA Network after one season, a move which showrunner Andy Greenwald called a “bummer”.The show, which is based on the Ross Thomas novel, premiered in February.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorDave Kajganich (AMC’s The Terror, Amazon’s Suspiria) has signed an overall deal with Fox 21 Television Studios to create, develop and produce series for network, cable and streaming platforms.“Dave Kajganich has been one of our favorite writers for some time now and one of the people we are most often asked about by the platforms around town,” said Bert Salke, president of Fox 21 TV studios, a division of Disney TV Studios.

Will Thorne Staff WriterDave Kajganich, the writer and producer who created the first season of AMC’s “The Terror” and penned Luca Guadagnino “Suspiria,” has signed an overall deal with Fox 21 Television Studios.As part of the deal, Kajganich will work with Fox 21 to create, develop and produce series for network, cable and streaming platforms.

Denise Petski Senior Managing EditorBetter Things‘ Pamela Adlon is staying in business with FX Productions, signing a new overall deal with the studio behind the critically praised series. Under the pact, Adlon will continue to develop both scripted and unscripted programming exclusively for FX, as well as potentially other divisions of Walt Disney Television.Additionally, FX confirmed a season 5 renewal for Better Things, on which Adlon executive produces, writes, directs and stars.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterPamela Adlon has signed an overall deal with FX Productions. In addition, Adlon’s critically-acclaimed FX series “Better Things” has been renewed for a fifth season.Adlon’s new deal covers all scripted and unscripted programming.

Hair Love, the Oscar-winning short film from Matthew A. Cherry about a father's quest to do his daughter's hair, is now being developed into a 12-episode series at HBO Max.

With the help of a bald cap, belly pad and prosthetic jowls, Oscar winner Russell Crowe transformed into the late Fox News founder Roger Ailes at the center of Showtime's celebrated series The Loudest Voice. During a seven-episode run in spring 2019, the project, based on Gabriel Sherman's 2014 book, dramatized the media titan's rise and fall, with Ailes ultimately brought down amid a flurry of sexual misconduct allegations.

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVThe Batman director and Felicity co-creator Matt Reeves has signed an exclusive, multi-year overall deal with Warner Bros. The rich pact had quietly closed months ago, and is now being confirmed.Under the overall agreement, Reeves will develop new television programming for all platforms via his 6th & Idaho production company: streaming services, including HBO Max; broadcast, premium and basic cable networks.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“The Batman” director Matt Reeves is expanding his relationship with Warner Bros.Reeves and his 6th & Idaho production company have signed an overall deal with Warner Bros. Television Group.

Photo credit Chris Frawley

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVNetflix has renewed its popular dark comedy Dead To Me for a third season. Series creator Liz Feldman will return as executive producer/showrunner under a big overall deal she has signed with the streamer.Your Complete Guide to Pilots and Straight-to-Series ordersUnder the multi-year pact, Feldman will also develop new original series and other projects for Netflix.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorRussell Crowe has spent many hours in the makeup chair over his decades-long acting career, but the process to transform into Roger Ailes for Showtime’s limited series “The Loudest Voice” was unlike any he had experienced before.“The first fitting was almost psychologically scarring,” Crowe says of finding the right prosthetics.

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVEXCLUSIVE: Writer/producer LaToya Morgan (The Walking Dead, Into the Badlands) has signed a major exclusive overall deal with Warner Bros. Television Group.WBTVG landed Morgan in a competitive situation.

Will Thorne Staff WriterDahvi Waller says she felt like she was rolling a massive boulder up a hill when she started her research for the FX on Hulu limited series “Mrs.

Cassie’s husband, Alex Fine, has taken to social media to share his anger and frustration about the killing of Elijah McClain, who was 23 years old. McClain, a massage therapist and violinist, died after a police encounter in Aurora, Colorado.

Ramin Setoodeh New York Bureau ChiefRussell Crowe asked Jared Kushner for advice on playing the former head of Fox News Roger Ailes in the Showtime limited series “The Loudest Voice.”In an interview with Variety‘s Actors on Actors issue, Crowe revealed to Nicole Kidman that he approached Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior advisor, at Hugh Jackman’s 50th birthday party in 2018 in New York.