Steven Canals Developing Drama Series “In The End” for ABC

It’s the beginning of The End for Steven Canals

ABC has put in development In The End, a drama from the 39-year-old Afro-Puerto Rican screenwriter, producer and Pose co-creator and his Story Ave. Productions, and 20th Century Fox Television, where Canals is under a deal.

Written and executive produced by Canals, the project centers on Kiona Brown, who, incapable of living life to the fullest, makes the only logical choice – to embrace death as an end-of-life doula. With an eclectic list of patients – including cancer survivor Mariana Cortez – Kiona soon discovers the secret to a new beginning is to embrace what happens…in the end.

Steven-Canals


In The End 
is among the first projects for Canals under his overall deal with 20th Century Fox Television.

Canals co-created and executive produces the Emmy– and Golden Globe-nominated and Peabody Award-winning drama series Pose, named one of the Best TV Programs of the Year by the American Film Institute in 2018 and 2019. It will return for a third season in 2020.

A 2015 graduate of UCLA’s MFA Screenwriting program, Canals began his journey as a storyteller in high school, producing the documentary short Turf Violence: What’s It All About?co-funded by HBO Family. He went on to earn a BA in Cinema, and a Masters in Student Affairs & Diversity from Binghamton University. While attending UCLA, Canals served as a Research Assistant at Hungry Jackal Productions. In 2016 Canals was a staff writer on Freeform’s Dead of Summer, the same year his short film, Afuera, premiered at the LA Film Festival.

He made his TV directorial debut with the eighth episode of the second season ofPose titled “Revelations.”

Breaking Glass Pictures to Release Martinez’s Indie Film “Actor Martinez”

Arthur Martinez is heading to the big screen…

Breaking Glass Pictures has acquired the North American distribution rights to the indie pic Actor Martinez, starring the Latino actor.

Arthur Martinez

From the writer/director duo of Mike Ott and Nathan Silver, the film follows a local Denver computer repairman and aspiring actor (Martinez) who hires two indie filmmakers to come to town and make a film with him as the star.

The film, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, will have a limited theatrical release in December before expanding in first quarter of 2017, along with a DVD and digital platform release.

Additionally, Actor Martinez will screen at the Denver Film Festival and American Film Institute’s (AFI) AFI Fest in the American Independent Section.

Larrain’s “Jackie” Joins the Film Slate at This Year’s AFI Fest

Pablo Larraín’s latest film will get the AFI Fest treatment…

The 40-year-old Chilean director’s latest film Jackie has joined the American Film Institute’s slate of AFI Centerpiece Galas at this year’s AFI Fest.

Pablo Larraín

From Fox Searchlight and starring Oscar winner Natalie Portman, the film will screen on Monday, November 14, at the TCL Chinese Theatre.

Jackie, which debuted at the Venice Film Festival and Toronto Film Festival, is an intimate portrait of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, which takes us into the iconic First Lady’s world during the difficult days immediately following her husband’s assassination.

Jackie

Noah Oppenheim penned the screenplay.

In addition to Portman, the film stars Peter Sarsgaard, Greta Gerwig, Billy Crudup and Oscar nominee John Hurt. 

Jackie joins previously announced Mike Mills-directed 20th Century Women; Elle directed by Paul Verhoeven; and Damien Chazelle-helmed La La Land starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.

The AFI Fest runs from November 10-17.

Rodriguez’s “Jane the Virgin” Named to the American Film Institute’s List of Best TV Shows of 2014

The kudos keep coming in for Gina Rodriguez’s latest project…

The 30-year-old Puerto Rican actress’ critically acclaimed CW series Jane the Virgin has been named to the American Film Institute’s list of the best television shows of the year, which it calls “culturally and artistically representative of the year’s most significant achievements in the art of the moving image.”

Gina Rodriguez in Jane the Virgin

Rodriguez’s Jane the Virgin is among five freshman series named to the AFI’s 10 choices, along with ABC’s How To Get Away With Murder, Cinemax’s The Knick, HBO’s Silicon Valley and Amazon’s Transparent.

Also making the list are FX’s The Americans and Fargo, HBO’s Game Of Thrones, Netflix’s Orange Is The New Black and AMC’s Mad Men.

“We celebrate these… television programs as more than just milestones in a year of excellence.” AFI President and CEO Bob Gazzale said. “They are a part of our American cultural heritage – collectively, a new chapter in the story of the art form and of our nation.”

In October, Jane the Virgin received a full-season order after garnering overwhelming support from critics and viewers alike. Additionally, it turned Rodriguez into one of these season’s breakout stars.

Jane The Virgin, based on a Venezuelan telenovela, is produced by CBS Television Studios and Warner Bros. Television, in association with Electus.

Campos to Participate in This Year’s AFI Fest

He’s already proved himself to be a Sundance Film Festival darling… And, now Antonio Campos is set to charm audiences at this year’s AFI Fest.

The 29-year-old half-Brazilian screenwriter/director has been added by the American Film Institute to the list of rising stars participating in AFI Fest 2012’s Young Americans and New Auteurs sections at this year’s festival.

Antonio Campos

Campos’ Simon Killer will form part of the New Auteurs section, which highlights first and second-time feature film directors from around the world.

Simon Killer centers on a young American man who falls in love with a French prostitute. Campos calls Simon a “character study” of male angst and utterly reflective of his ingrained love for being frightened as an audience member.

Other Latino filmmakers participating at this year’s AFI Fest include Michel Franco of Mexico and Antonio Mendez Esparza of Spain, Mexico and the U.S.

The films in the Young Americans section are eligible for an Audience Award while the films in the New Auteurs section are eligible for a Grand Jury Award.

This year’s AFI Fest will take place on November 1-8 in Hollywood.

Here’s the complete list of participants:

YOUNG AMERICANS:
All The Light In The Sky: DIR/SCR Joe Swanberg.
Ape: DIR/SCR Joel Potrykus.
Electrick Children: DIR/SCR Rebecca Thomas.
The International Sign For Choking: DIR/SCR Zach Weintraub.
Kid-Thing: DIR/SCR David Zellner.
Only The Young: DIR Jason Tippet, Elizabeth Mims.
Pearblossom Highway: DIR Mike Ott. SCR Mike Ott, Atsuko Okatsuka.
Somebody Up There Likes Me: DIR/SCR Robert Byington.
Starlet: DIR Sean Baker. SCR Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch.
Sun Don’t Shine: DIR/SCR Amy Seimetz.
Tchoupitoulas: DIR Turner Ross, Bill Ross.

NEW AUTEURS:
After Lucia: DIR/SCR Michel Franco. Mexico.
Antiviral: DIR/SCR Brandon Cronenberg. Canda/USA.
Clip: DIR/SCR Maja Miloš. Serbia.
Eat Sleep Die: DIR/SCR Gabriela Pichler. Sweden.
Here And There: DIR/SCR Antonio Mendez Esparza. Mexico/Spain/USA.
A Hijacking: DIR/SCR Tobiaas Lindholm. Denmark.
In The Fog: DIR Sergei Loznitsa. Germany/Russia/Belarus/The Netherlands/Latvia.
Not In Tel Aviv: DIR/SCR Nony Geffen. Israel.
Simon Killer: DIR/SCR Antonio Campos. USA.