Karla Souza to Star in Amazon’s FIFA Gate-Inspired Drama “El Presidente”

Karla Souzawill be acting presidential…

The 33-year-old Mexican actress and How to Get Away with Murder star is set to star in Amazon’s FIFA drama El Presidente.

Karla Souza

Andrés Parra (Pablo Escobar: El Patrón del Mal) and Paulina Gaitán (Diablo Guardian) also star in the eight-part series, which is produced by Oscar‐winning director Pablo Larrain’s production company Fabula (A Fantastic Woman), Narcosproducer Gaumont and Argentine producer Kapow.

Birdman’sArmando Bowill direct and executive-produce the series, which is inspired by the real-life characters and events behind the 2015 “FIFA Gate” corruption scandal.

The series explores the scandal from the angle of a small‐time Chilean football club president who rises from obscurity to become a key player in a $150M bribery conspiracy. Set against the backdrop of cities across Latin America, the U.S. and Europe, the series explores the sports scandal that rocked the world through the story of Jadue (Parra), a small‐time Chilean football club president who rose from obscurity to become a key player in a $150M bribery conspiracy at the hand of the infamous president of the Argentine football association, Julio Grondona.

It will air on Amazon’s SVOD service in more than 200 countries and territories.

El Presidente will show the world, with loads of irony, how the most beloved sport of all is in fact a multimillionaire business run by a ridiculous mob we have never seen before: the Football Mafia,” added Bo.

Souza’s previous credits include Everybody Loves Somebody and 31 días.

Susan Santiago to Star in The CW’s Drama Pilot “Glamorous”

Susan Santiago is livin’ theglamorouslife…

The Spanish actress will star opposite Peyton ListBrooke Shields and Ben J. Pierce in The CW’s drama pilot Glamorous.

Susan Santiago

The project hailsfrom Damon Wayans Jr. and his Two Shakes Entertainment, writer Jordon Nardinoand CBS Television Studios.

Written by Nardino and directed by Eva Longoriain her pilot-directing debut, Glamorous centers on Marco (Pierce), a gender-nonconforming recent high school graduate who lands the gig of a lifetime interning at a cosmetics company whose products he panned on YouTube.

Santiago will portray Julia, a no-nonsense lawyer who has raised her son in a loving and supportive environment where he’s always been held to the highest of standards. As her son leaves the nest for the first time, Julia fights to keep him on the ambitious (if colorless) path in life she is absolutely certain is best for him

List will play AlyssaSays, an over-the-top YouTubepersonality with a competitive edge who finds an unexpected home at the same cosmetics firm as Marco.

Santiago was recently seen in the critically praised The Hate U Give and is best known for her guest-starring and recurring appearances on Grey’s AnatomyLongmireScandalHow to Get Away With Murder and Criminal Minds. Her producing debut, Illegal, in which she also stars, will premiere in competition at the upcoming Pasadena Film Festival

Gloria Garayua to Star in the Psychological Thriller Drama Series “Reckoning”

It’s a day of Reckoning for Gloria Garayua

The 39-year-old Puerto Rican actress has been in cast in the psychological thriller Reckoning, a 10-episode straight-to-series drama from David Hubbard, veteran showrunner David Eick and Sony Pictures Television Networks.

Gloria Garayua

Garayua joins a cast that includes Aden YoungSam Trammell, Simone Kessell, Laura Gordon, Mitzi Ruhlmann, Milly Alcock, Ed Oxenbould, Finn Little, Anthony Phelan and Diana Glenn.

Produced by PlaymakerReckoning began production this week in Sydney for premiere next year on SPTN’s international channels, including AXN, in select territories in Europe and Latin America.

Set in California, the 10-episode series is being filmed and wholly produced and post-produced in Australia. Sony Pictures Television Distribution will handle worldwide sales.

Written by Hubbard, who serves as showrunner with Eick, Reckoning explores the darkest corners of the human psyche through the eyes of two fathers, one of whom is a serial killer. Mike (Young) and Leo (Trammell) try to do what’s best for the people they love and the families they protect. But as both struggle to suppress their inner demons, the murder of a local teenager sets them on a course of mutual destruction that will emanate through every facet of their quiet, suburban community.

“Aden and Sam and the fantastic ensemble cast are crushing it in rehearsals,” said Marie Jacobson, EVP Programming and Production at Sony Pictures Television Networks. “We’re thrilled that production has started in beautiful Sydney.”

Reckoning is part of Sony Pictures Television Networks’ ramped up efforts in the original production arena. It follows the success of SPTN’s Absentia, a dramatic thriller starring Stana Katic and Patrick Heusinger, which originally was commissioned for AXN in 2017 and now is streaming on Amazon Prime Video in the U.S. and other territories.

Garayua’s previous credits include Six Feet UnderWeeds,The Shield,Grey’s Anatomy, Cougar Town and How to Get Away with Murder.

ABC Renews Karla Souza’s “How to Get Away With Murder” for a Fifth Season

Karla Souza is still getting away with murder…

ABC has given a Season 5 pickup to its legal thriller drama How to Get Away With Murder, starring the 32-year-old actress.

Karla Souza

The renewal of the Shondaland drama was fully expected.

HTGAWM is the second longest-running Shondaland series, and it’s well received, earning lead star Viola Davis top awards including an Emmy.

Additionally, while a modest Live+Same Day performer (average 0.94 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 3.70 million viewers in Season 4, down by 28% and by 20%, respectively, compared to Season 3), it continues to be a big DVR gainer. Its Live+7 tally for Season 4 was 6.4 million viewers and a 2.0 in 18-49, ranking as ABC’s third highest-rated drama in the demo behind Grey’s Anatomy and The Good Doctor

Starring Davis, Souza, Billy Brown, Jack Falahee, Aja Naomi King, Matt McGorry, Conrad Ricamora, Charlie Weber and Liza WeilHow To Get Away With Murder revolves around the world of Middleton University Professor Annalise Keating (Davis). Murder, deception, fear and guilt bind her to her longtime associates and students. As the group struggles to move on following the death of one of their own, their past continues to haunt them.

How To Get Away With Murder is created and executive produced by Pete Nowalk, who also serves as showrunner.

Esai Morales to Star in Sony Pictures’ “Superfly” Remake

Esai Morales’ career is soaring to new heights…

The 55-year-old Puerto Rican actor will star in the Director X-helmed Superfly remake from Sony Pictures, which will debut in theaters June 15.

Esai Morales

Morales will portray play Adalberto.

The Alex Tse-penned script is based on the 1972 original blaxploitation crime drama, which followed an African American cocaine dealer who tries to secure one more deal before getting out of the business.

Morales joins a cast that includes Trevor Jackson, Jason MitchellLex Scott Davis, Andrea Londo, Jacob Ming-Trent, Omar Chapparo, and Allen Maldonado.

Joel Silver is producing the film with rap star Future, who is also putting together the film’s soundtrack.

Morales, who currently stars on ABC’s How To Get Away With Murder, rose to acclaim in the Richie Valens biopic La Bamba. He’s also appeared in PBSAmerican Family, Showtime’s Resurrection Blvd., NYPD Blue and Caprica.

Tanya Saracho Partnering with Big Beach for New Latinx Series, “Brujas”

It’s the witching hour for Tanya Saracho

The Mexican playwright and television writer will serve as the showrunner for a new series titled Brujas, a show in development via Big Beach.

Tanya Saracho

The series will follow four Afro-Caribbean/Latinx women in Chicago and series explore the relationships and community born out of the growing identification with the Bruja movement.

Brujas marks the continuing collaboration between Saracho and Big Beach. The new show will use the brujería counter-culture as a foundation. The brujería culture is a means for Latinx feminists to reconnect with their heritage through music, style, nightlife, and art. It’s a powerful return to indigenous practices and a reclamation of feminine strength. It’s also a headline-grabbing movement reflected from coast to coast by artists from Princess Nokia with her single “Brujas” to Beyonce’s opus of female empowerment, “Lemonade.”

Saracho is writing the series and will serve as executive producer alongside Big Beach’s Robin Schwartz, Peter Saraf, and Marc Turtletaub.

Saracho has written for Lifetime’s Devious Maids, HBO’s Girls and Looking, and ABC’s How to Get Away with Murder.

She was previously named Best New Playwright by Chicago Magazine, one of the 9 national “Luminarios” by Café Magazine and given the first “Revolucionario” award in theater by the National Museum of Mexican Art.

Mishel Prada Cast in Starz’s New Latinx Drama Series “Vida”

Mishel Prada is livin’ la vida in Hollywood…

The Latina actress has landed a series regular in Starz new Latinx drama series Vida from showrunner Tanya Saracho (How To Get Away With Murder).

Mishel Prada

Rendon joins a cast that includes several Latino actors/actresses, including McFarland, USA’s Chelsea Rendon, East Los High’s Karen Ser Anzoategui, The Bling Ring’s Carlos Miranda, Suffering Man’s Charity’s Maria Elena Laas and Club de CuervosMelissa Berrera.

Vida focuses on two Mexican-American sisters, Emma and Lyn, from the Eastside of Los Angeles who couldn’t be more different or distanced from each other. Circumstances force them to return to their old neighborhood, where they are confronted by the past and shocking truth about their mother’s identity.

Prada will portray Emma who, estranged from both her sister and her mother, reluctantly returns for her mother’s funeral and to deal with the family business. Barrera will play her sister, Lyn, a care-free party girl, who has figured out how to live a pretty worry-free life in the Bay Area.

Anzoategui will portray Eddy, a sensitive soul who is trustworthy, generous and passionate but also intimidating looking upon first glance. Rendon will play Marisol who is the expression of east side youth culture: woke, politicized, and deep in the resistance. Miranda is Johnny, a stand-up guy who runs his ailing dad’s auto shop and is engaged to his pregnant girlfriend but has a history with Lyn. Laas will portray Cruz, an enigmatic lesbian who has a checkered history with Emma.

Alonso Ruizpalacios directs the series premiere episode. Big Beach TV will produce the Latinx series.

Prada’s previous credits include Fear the Walking Dead: Passage and Tell Me How I Die.

Luna Lauren Vélez to Star in the Latest Installment of “The Purge” Film Series

Luna Lauren Vélez is feeling the urge to purge

The 52-year-old Puerto Rican actress has been cast in the fourth installment of The Purge film series from Blumhouse Productions, Universal Pictures and Platinum Dunes.

Lauren Vélez

Velez, best known for her role as María LaGuerta on Showtime‘s Dexter, joins a cast that includes Mo McRae, Joivan Wade, Steve Harris, Patch Darragh and Mugga.

The group joins previously announced Y’lan Noel and Lex Scott Davis for The Purge 4, which Burning Sands director Gerard McMurray is directing from a script by franchise creator James DeMonaco, who wrote and directed the previous three films.

This chapter will serve as a prequel, focusing on the events that lead up to the inaugural Purge event where, for a 12-hour period, all crime is legal.

DeMonaco is producing with Jason Blum, Michael Bay, Brad Fuller, Andrew Form and Sébastien K. Lemercier. The film hits theaters July 4.

Velez most recent appeared on ABC’s How To Get Away with Murder.

J. Anthony Pena to Star in Crackle’s Drama Series “The Oath”

J. Anthony Pena is taking a new Oath

The Latino actor has landed a recurring role opposite Sean Bean in Crackle’s upcoming drama series The Oath, which is being executive produced by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and his G-Unit Film & Television.

J. Anthony Pena 

Written and created by former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Joe Halpin, the 10-episode original series explores a world of gangs made up of those sworn to protect and defend and sheds light on corrupt and secret societies that are nearly impossible to join. Only a select few make the cut – but once inside, members will do what they must to protect one another from enemies on the outside and from within their own ranks.

Pena will play Carl, a medically retired police officer and Raven. He opened a bar and lets the Ravens set up shop in the back room to keep it afloat. He is fiercely loyal to his cop patrons, Tom Hammond in particular.

Pena’s credits include guest/recurring roles on Justified and Weeds, and most recently on Netflix’s Love and ABC’s How To Get Away With Murder.

Esai Morales to Star in National Geographic’s Sci-Fi Series “Mars”

Esai Morales has landed an out-of-this-world role…

The 54-year-old Puerto Rican actor has joined the cast for season two of National Geographic global sci-fi series Mars, from Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment and Radical Media.

Esai Morales

Shooting began this week in Budapest on the six-episode series, which is slated to premiere in spring 2018.

The second season’s six-part arc jumps ahead several years into the future after the Daedalus astronauts have built a full-fledged colony called Olympus Town. Having established humankind as an interplanetary species, Mars examines the impact that humans have on the Red Planet and the consequences the planet has on us.

Morales will play Roland St. John, CEO of private enterprise Lukrum Corporation.

Reprising their roles from Season 1 are JiHAE (Mortal Engines) as Hanna Seung, a mission pilot and twin sister of Joon Seung, capsule communicator of mission control; Sammi Rotibi (The Darkest Minds) as Robert Foucault, a Nigerian mechanical engineer and roboticist; Alberto Ammann (Narcos) as Javier Delgado, a hydrologist and geochemist; Clémentine Poidatz (Marie Antoinette) as Amelie Durand, French mission physician and biochemist; Anamaria Marinca (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) as Marta Kamen, a Russian exobiologist and geologist; and Cosima Shaw (The Danish Girl) as Leslie Richardson, a British nuclear physicist.

“This season takes us literally into new territory,” said showrunner Dee Johnson. “With no laws, no government and no safety nets of any kind, what is it like to be among the first settlers of Mars? Not only do we explore dangers and mysteries of this brand-new world, but we also explore what it means to be human in a place where so few exist.”

Morales, a presidential candidate for SAG-AFTRA, most recently starred on Ozark. His other credits include How To Get Away With Murder, Chicago P.D. and Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders.