YouTube to Premiere Demi Lovato’s Four-Part Docuseries “Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil” in March

Demi Lovato is getting personal…

YouTube has given the green light to a four-part documentary series that follows the 28-year-old part-Mexican American singer/actress.

Demi Lovato

Entitled Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil, the docuseries will premiere on March 23 with the first two episodes. The final two episodes will then air weekly.

The new series will follow Lovato returning to show fans her personal and musical journey over the past three years. Last year, she performed the National Anthem before Super Bowl 54 between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs.

The series will be directed by Michael D. Ratner, who was a director on and exec produced Quibi’s recent &Music series, and produced by Ratner’s OBB Pictures, which produced YouTube’s recent Justin Bieber: Seasons series.

The announcement comes nearly two years after the digital platform and the “Sorry Not Sorry” singer were set to do a follow-up doc to Demi Lovato: Simply Complicated.

That film, which was directed by Hannah Lux Davis, was released in 2017 and has been viewed more than 32M times. It chronicled the recording of her Tell Me You Love Me record and her life and career including her stint on the Disney Channel and her struggles with bipolar disorder and addiction.

The Google-owned service had been in talks to make a follow-up film in 2018 before Lovato overdosed and that project was put on hold. She’s understood to have recently seen the Justin Bieber series and reached back out to YouTube to say she is ready to make another documentary.

“It’s been two years since I came face-to-face with the darkest point in my life, and now I’m ready to share my story with the world. For the first time, you’ll be able to see my chronicle of struggle and ongoing healing from my point of view.  I’m grateful that I was able to take this journey to face my past head-on and finally share it with the world,” said Lovato.

“We are excited to continue sharing Demi’s brave story,” added Susanne Daniels, Global Head of Original Content, YouTube. “YouTube Originals is committed to telling real stories about the complexities of life and for Demi to use our global platform to open up about this chapter is something we are very proud of.”

“Demi’s willingness to explore the darkest elements of her life is going to leave the audience with a complete understanding of everything she’s been through and ultimately where she is going. Demi stands for empowerment, and this documentary is going to answer the many questions that have been out there – providing a real window into the life of one of the biggest stars in the world, who is simply a human being,” said director and executive producer Ratner.

Tyler Alvarez to Appear on Season Two of Mindy Kaling’s Netflix Series “Never Have I Ever”

It’s a special game of Never Have I Ever for Tyler Alvarez

The 23-year-old Puerto Rican and Cuban American actor has landed a recurring role for season two of Mindy Kaling’s Netflix series Never Have I Ever.

Tyler Alvarez

Alvarez will play Malcom. A “Young Hollywood” type, Malcom went to elementary school with Devi and her friends but left when he was cast in a Disney Channel show. He’s recently returned to Sherman Oaks High while continuing his acting career.

Co-created by Kaling and Lang Fisher, Never Have I Ever stars Maitreyi Ramakrishnan as high school student Devi Vishwakumar, alongside returning cast including Poorna Jagannathan, Richa Moorjani, Jaren Lewison, Darren Barnet, Lee Rodriguez and Ramona Young.

The show follows the complicated life of a modern-day first-generation Indian American teenage girl, dealing with issues of family, sexuality and high school. Ramakrishnan’s Vishwakumar is a 15-year-old from Sherman Oaks, CA, who wants to change her social status after a horrible year that included losing her father and being confined to a wheelchair for three months.

Alvarez is best known for his starring role as Peter Maldonado in Netflix’s American Vandal. His other notable credits include Netflix’s Orange is the New Black and the Hulu revival of Veronica Mars.

Isabella Gomez to Star on Comedy Pilot Reboot of ABC’s 1980s Sitcom “Head of the Class”

Isabella Gomez is moving up to the head of the class

The 22-year-old Colombian-American actress and One Day at a Time has been cast as the lead of HBO Max’s multi-camera comedy pilot Head of the Class, a reboot of the popular 1980s ABC sitcom.

Isabella Gomez

Gomez’s casting reveals a gender swap in the follow-up as the lead in the original series was played by Howard Hesseman.

HBO Max in May ordered a pilot and five additional scripts for Head of the Class, which hails from American Vandal writers Amy Pocha and Seth CohenBill Lawrence and his Doozer Productions; and Warner Bros. Television, which produced the original series.

Written by Pocha and Cohen, based on the original series created by Rich Eustis and Michael Elias, the reimagined Head of the Class revolves around a group of overachieving high school students who meet their greatest challenge — a first-time teacher, Alicia Adams (Gomez), who wants them to focus less on grades and more on experiencing life.

Gomez’s Alicia Adams is a whip-smart, funny, blunt high school teacher we all wish we had. A former GPA junkie, Alicia thought she had the world all figured out when she was in school. Teaching for the first time, Alicia’s is figuring out what she really wants in life.

Created by Eustis and Elias, Head of the Class ran on ABC from 1986-91. It followed a group of gifted students at the fictional Millard Fillmore High School in Manhattan and their history teacher Charlie Moore (Hesseman).

Gomez most recently played Elena Alvarez on the acclaimed multi-camera comedy One Day at a Time. The series was on Netflix for three seasons before it was canceled and moved to PopTV for Season 4. The ViacomCBS cable network on Tuesday revealed that it has canceled the comedyOne Day at a Time studio Sony Pictures Television is currently trying to find a new home for the show. It’s considered a long shot, but if it happens and if Head of the Class is picked up to series, Gomez can do both shows.

Gomez’s previous credits also include Shatterproof Films’ Dembanger, Disney Channel’s Big Hero 6: The Series, Netflix’s A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish and ABC’s Modern Family.

Victoria Moroles to Star in the Natalie Morales-Directed Comedy “Plan B”

Victoria Moroles is a woman with a Plan (B) 

The 24-year-old Mexican American actress will star opposite Kuhoo Verma in Plan B, the comedy from actress/director Natalie Morales.

Victoria Moroles

Written by Prathi Srinivasan and Joshua Levy, the story takes place after a regrettable first sexual encounter, when a straight-laced high school student and her slacker best friend have 24 hours to hunt down a Plan B pill in America’s heartland.

Plan B is said to a contemporary look at the adventure movie that has a diverse friendship at its center.

Hulu is behind the project that hails from Counterbalance Entertainment and American High.

Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg will produce via Counterbalance.

“Over 15 years after making Harold & Kumar, it feels like we’re having déjà vu. Kuhoo and Victoria are such a talented and dynamic duo. We can’t wait for audiences to join them on this hilarious and heartfelt ride,” said Hurwitz and Schlossberg.

Moroles’ previous credits include MTV series Teen Wolf and the Disney Channel series Liv and Maddie.

Justina Machado to Compete on ABC’s Upcoming Season of “Dancing With The Stars”

Justina Machado’s ready to paso doble her way into your hearts…

The 47-year-old Puerto Rican actress, who currently stars on PopTV’s One Day at a Time, will compete on ABC’s Dancing With The Stars this season.

Justina Machado

Machado will compete against Tiger King’s Carole Baskin, rapper Nelly, Selling Sunset’s Chrishell Stause and NBA legend Charles Oakley among others for the coveted DTWS mirrorball trophy.

The ABC celebrity ballroom dancing competition series, based on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, will premiere on September 14 with new host Tyra Banks.

This season’s other competirors include Monica Aldama, star of Netflix’s Cheer, Disney Channel actress Skai Jackson, The Real’s Jeannie Mai, Catfish’s Nev Schulman, Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir, Super Bowl champion Vernon Davis, Anne Heche, Backstreet Boys member AJ McLean, and The Bachelor’s Kaitlyn Bristowe.

This season’s professional dancers include Brandon Armstrong, Alan Bersten, Sharna Burgess, Cheryl Burke, Artem Chigvintsev, Val Chmerkovskiy, Sasha Farber, Jenna Johnson, Daniella Karagach, Keo Motsepe, Peta Murgatroyd, Pasha Pashkov, Gleb Savchenko, Emma Slater and Britt Stewart.

In addition to hosting, Banks will also serve as an executive producer this season. She replaces Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews as the show’s host in season 29.

One of the challenges for this season is to ensure that the production adheres to COVID-19 protocols, a trickier move for a dance competition format than many other productions. Details of the health and safety protocols and other format refreshes are expected imminently.

Bella Thorne Earns $2 Million Since Launching OnlyFans Page

Bella Thorne is makin’ bank while doing some research for her next project…

The 22-year-old half-Cuban American actress/singer has reportedly earned $2 million since joining OnlyFans.

Bella Thorne

Thorne became a part of the subscription-only social media platform on Wednesday, charging users $20 a month for access to her feed.

The site — which allows influencers, adult entertainers and celebrities to share content that might be too X-rated for Instagram or Twitter — also hosts pages from Cardi B and some members of Bravo‘s Real Housewives programs.

But Thorne isn’t on OnlyFans just to make bank. She admits that’s certainly part of it: She’s planning on putting the earnings into her production company and toward charity.

But she also says she’s using the site as research for a new movie she’s making with Sean Baker, the director of such critically acclaimed indie films as The Florida Project andTangerine.

“It’s a feature we are researching as I’m living it currently,” Thorne explained via text message. “What are the ins and outs? What does a platform like this do to its users? What’s the connective material between your life and your life inside the world of OnlyFans? … How can it change your life for the worse and the better? How far are you willing to go, and how far do you WANT to go? You can be me, or this talented girl from Montana, and OnlyFans could change your life — if you want it to, of course.”

Thorne said she plans to act in the film, which would be written and directed by Baker. The filmmaker declined to comment on the movie, but a source close to the project said it was “very early in its development — in its infancy — and probably years away from turning into anything.”

Thorne is still figuring out what she wants to share with OnlyFans users. So far, her page does feature some suggestive imagery — numerous bikini photos, her eating a hot dog — but nothing explicitly graphic.

In a poll, however, she did ask her fans what type of content they’d like from her; tongue teasing, lingerie, booty, showering and twerking were among the answers.

Ultimately, she said, she’s hoping her page can become a place she “can really just be more personal with my fans,” sending them “good night and good morning personal messages” via voice memo. She also plans to offer classes on writing in Final Draft, baking and songwriting.

Thorne, who rose to fame as a child star on the Disney Channel series Shake It Up, has been open about her serious acting ambitions in recent years. Since wrapping the Freeform series Famous in Love in 2018, she’s appeared in five films, most recently a thriller called Infamous, released on video-on-demand in June.

“To win an Oscar — that’s the thing that I’ve always wanted,” Thorne told The Times in 2018. “It goes up every year on my vision board.”

Kenny Ortega Signs with A3 Artists Agency

Kenny Ortega has new representation…

The 70-year-old Spanish American prolific director, choreographer and producer has signed with A3 Artists Agency.

Kenny Ortega

Ortega earned a Primetime Emmy for choreography and a DGA Award for his work on the Disney Channel’s High School Musical.

High School Musical 2 drew over 17 million viewers when it premiered on Disney Channel, making it the most watched program in cable telecast history. He’s also the executive producer for the film’s soundtracks.

Disney’s High School Musical 3, which made the leap from television to the big screen, opened to $42M at the domestic B.O., marking the biggest theatrical box office opening for a musical in history. The film earned more than $252M globally off an $11M budget.

Ortega directed and choreographed the Descendants trilogy, Newsies, and Hocus Pocus, and choreographed classic films like Dirty Dancing, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and Pretty in Pink, among others.

Other recent work includes A Change of Heart, The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again for Fox and The Hocus Pocus 25th Anniversary Special for Freeform.

On September 10, Netflix will release Ortega’s next directorial project Julie and the Phantoms, a family musical comedy based on a Brazilian television series.

It’s the first title under Ortega’s new multi-year deal with Netflix. He’s also set to direct and produce a feature musical adaptation of Elise Primavera’s book series Auntie Claus, under the pact.

In addition to his Emmy for High School Musical, Ortega earned two others for choreography and variety/music/comedy program direction for the XIX Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony. Last year he received the prestigious Disney Legends Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His other honors include The Fred & Adele Astaire Lifetime Achievement Award, Bob Fosse Award, American Choreography Lifetime Achievement Award, MTV Video Music Award, American Music Award, among many others.

Selena Gomez to Star Opposite Steve Martin & Martin Short in Hulu’s Comedy Series “Only Murders in the Building”

Selena Gomez is teaming up with two comedy legends…

The 28-year-old Mexican American singer/actress, who rose to acclaim as the star of the Disney Channel’s Wizards of Waverly Place, will star alongside Steve Martin and Martin Short in Hulu‘s straight-to-series comedy Only Murders in the Building.

Selena Gomez

Ordered to series in January, the comedy created and written by Martin and John Hoffman revolves around three strangers who share an obsession with true crime who suddenly find themselves wrapped up in one.

Gomez will play the third stranger alongside Short and Martin.

In addition to her co-starring role, Gomez will also executive produce the series alongside Martin, Hoffman, Short, This Is Uscreator Dan Fogelman and Jess Rosenthal. It marks Gomez’s latest executive-producing gig following Netflix‘s 13 Reasons Why and the documentary Living Undocumented.

Only Murders in the Building is Gomez’s latest acting role following her roles in Woody Allen’s A Rainy Day in New York and The Dead Don’t Die. Her other film credits include Spring Breakers, The Big Short, Monte Carlo and Fundamentals of Caring.

Gomez will next appear on HBO Max in her new cooking-while-quarantined series Selena + Chef, which will begin streaming later this month.

Sofia Carson to Star Opposite KJ Apa in the Pandemic Thriller “Songbird”

Sofia Carson is flying high…

The 27-year-old Colombian American actress/singer will star opposite KJ Apa as star-crossed lovers in the pandemic thriller Songbird, which began filming last week in Los Angeles.

Sofia Carson

Told from street level through the eyes of the characters, Songbirdtakes place two years into the future, as a lockdown has been re-implemented after a more serious virus continues to mutate. In a feeble attempt to keep the sickness contained, the city has been split into haves and have nots. 

Songbird follows an essential worker (Apa) who has a rare immunity, a delivery man who delivers goods and hope throughout the city. Like the vast majority of the population, his girlfriend (Carson) is locked within her home, and the couple have no ability to physically be together. 

To be with the one he loves, he must overcome martial law, murderous vigilantes and a powerful, well connected family, helmed by a matriarch (Demi Moore) who will stop at nothing to protect her family and maintain her way of life.

Carson and Apa join the previously announced cast of Moore, Bradley WhitfordCraig RobinsonJenna OrtegaPaul Walter Hauser, and Peter Stormare

Adam Mason is directing off a screenplay he co-wrote with Simon Boyes. The film hails from Adam Goodman and Michael Bay.

Carson has more than 18 million followers on social media, over 1.5 billion streams of her music and over 2M subscribers to her YouTube channel. 

She currently stars in the Netflix feature film Feel the Beat. She previously starred as “Evie” in Disney’s Descendantsfranchjse and appeared on the Freeform series Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists

Carson is signed to Hollywood Records/Republic Records and recently released her latest single “Miss U More Than U Know”, which has clocked more than 4.5 million streams to date. Carson is a Global Ambassador for Revlon, and recently unveiled the Revlon x Sofia Carson Collection, an exclusive collection of her favorite Revlon lip products and nail polish. 

Taylor Ortega to Voice Multiple Characters on Syfy’s “Magical Girl Friendship Squad” Series

Taylor Ortega is joining a new squad

The 30-year-old Latina actress/comedian will star in Syfy’s TZGZ anime-inspired comedy Magical Girl Friendship Squad.

Taylor Ortega

Created by Kelsey StephanidesMagical Girl Friendship Squadis a female-driven anime comedy about two young women, Alex (Quinta Brunson) and Daisy (Anna Akana), who are destined to save the Universe…as soon as they figure out how to pay their rent.

In January, TZGZ greenlit a straight-to-series order of the longer-form version of the show (six 15-minute episodes).

Produced by Cartuna, the short-form version, Magical Girl Friendship Squad: Origins (six four-minute episodes), currently airs as part of the late-night adult animation block’s acquisition slate.

In addition to Brunson and Akana, Series regulars include Ana Gasteyer and Matteo Lane.

Christine Baranski,Manny Jacinto,Helen HongEric Bauza and Sarah “Squirm” Sherman will recur on Magical Girl Friendship Squad

Guest stars are Jason MantzoukisPaget Brewster,Vella LovellJamie Loftus and Patti Harrison.

Ortega, who starred in the Disney Channel’s live-action Kim Possible movie, will appear as a utility player alongside Stephanie Sheh and Daisy Hobbs.

Ortega, Sheh and Hobbs will voice multiple roles.