Demi Lovato’s Short Form Talk Show “The Demi Lovato Show” to Debut on Roku Channel in Late July

Demi Lovato is ready to gab it up…

The 28-year-old half-Mexican American singer/actor’s short form talk show that had been set for Quibi now has a premiere date on the Roku Channel.

Demi Lovato

The Demi Lovato Show will bow Friday, July 30, as the first of more than a dozen Roku Originals titles set for the platform.

The talker will feature a special guest and cover topics including activism, feminism, gender identity, sex and body positivity, mental health and even UFOs.

Scheduled guests include Jameela Jamil, Lucy Hale, Nikita Dragun and experts in various fields. See the first-look photo above.

“Some conversations can be difficult, but I’ve never been one to shy away from speaking candidly about things,” Lovato said. “We wanted to create a space that normalizes living your own truth – where people can speak, engage and more importantly, learn, together. There’s something therapeutic about having raw discussions that people can relate to and with The Demi Lovato Show no topics are off limits and opinions are welcome. I’m so excited for people to see how these conversations unfold on the Roku Channel.”

The then-working-titled Pillow Talk with Demi Lovato was announced as a Quibi original in February but never aired on the shortform service run by Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman. The duo announced in October that the streamer was shutting down, which it did on December 1. Roku revealed in May that Quibi shows would run as Roku Originals on the service.

Lovato has been busy with a number of other projects across various mediums: NBC single-camera comedy pilot HungryYouTube Original docuseries Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devilfour-part Peacock docuseries Unidentified with Demi Lovato (working title) and the singer-actor’s debut podcast 4D with Demi Lovato.

Produced by GoodStory Entertainment and SB ProjectsThe Demi Lovato Show is executive produced by Lovato, Scooter Braun, JD Roth, Adam Greener, Alison Kaye, Scott Manson, Todd Yasui and Sara Hansemann. The series is directed by Hannah Lux Davis.

Roku Acquires Quibi’s Programming, Including Nicole Richie’s “Nikki Fre$h” Series

Nicole Richie is freshening up Roku

Roku has acquired the exclusive global distribution rights to the portfolio of Quibi’s programs, including the 39-year-old part-Mexican American actress & television personality’s series Nikki Fre$h.

Nicole Richie

In its biggest original programming foray to date, Roku’s acquisition covers most of the recently shuttered mobile-only streaming venture’s library, while some daily news shows aren’t part of the package.

A key draw for Roku is the talent, a roster including Richie, Idris Elba, Kevin Hart, Liam Hemsworth, Anna Kendrick, Chrissy Teigen and Lena Waithe.

The lineup includes titles like Most Dangerous Game, Dummy, Murder House Flip and the Reno 911 reboot, starring Carlos Alazraqui.

Financial terms weren’t disclosed, though the valuation is said to be less than $100 million, according to insiders. Roku shares rose 5% to $398.60 on the news. At one point early in the trading day, they reached $402.81, an all-time high.

The programming will be available for free starting later this year. Shows will have advertising, as they did on the $5-a-month Quibi service, and they’ll be housed on the Roku Channel. The hub for free and premium streaming channels, including 150-plus free live, linear offerings, has become a mainstay of the company’s strategy since Roku launched it in 2017. By the fourth quarter of 2020, it was being viewed by households representing an estimated 61.8 million people, the company said, double its reach at the end of 2019.

“The most creative and imaginative minds in Hollywood created groundbreaking content for Quibi that exceeded our expectations,” said Quibi Founder Jeffrey Katzenberg. “We are thrilled that these stories, from the surreal to the sublime, have found a new home on The Roku Channel.”

Jennifer Lopez to Take Part in Quibi’s Forthcoming Series “Thanks a Million”

Jennifer Lopez is paying it forward…

The 50-year-old Puerto Rican superstar is set to take part in Quibi’s forthcoming series, Thanks a Million, which will feature people literally paying it forward to those who’ve changed their lives. 

J.Lo joins a roster of participating celebrities that includes Kristen BellTracy MorganKarlie KlossAaron Rodgers and Alex Rodriguez.

Each of the celebrities will lead an individual episode of the series. More participants will be revealed at a later date.

Earlier in March at SXSW, Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg announced the new series as part of their lineup. Each episode of Thanks a Million will feature grateful public figures kick-starting a chain of kindness by gifting $100,000 to an unsuspecting individual who has had a positive impact on their lives. The recipient must then pay it forward by gifting half of that sum to someone else who has done the same, and the chain continues. Across ten episodes, $1,000,000 will be put in the hands of everyday people.

Thanks a Million will be produced by Lopez’s Nuyorican Productions and Industrial Media’s B-17 Entertainment in association with Universal Alternative Television Studio. Lopez, Elaine-Goldsmith ThomasAlex BrownRhett BachnerBrien Meagher,Dena Waxmanand Benny Medinaserve as Executive Producers. 

Quibi is slated to launch April 6, 2020.

Arturo Castro to Star in Quibi’s Comedy Series “Flipped”

Arturo Castro has Flipped out!

The 33-year-old Guatemalan actor is set to star in Flipped, a new comedy series from Groundlings alums Steve Mallory and Damon Jones, and Funny or Die, for Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman’s short-form video platform Quibi

Arturo Castro

Castro will star opposite Eva LongoriaAndy GarciaWill Forteand Kaitlin Olsonin the series, which is currently in production.

Written by Mallory and Jones, Flipped centers around chronically underemployed couple Jann (Forte) and Cricket Melfi (Olson), self-proclaimed home renovation “experts” who are more than confident they are television’s next great home design celebrity duo. Flipped follows the clueless pair as their dreams of basic cable fame and glory are derailed when they get themselves kidnapped by members of a drug cartel, (Garcia, Longoria, and Castro) and are forced to renovate their sprawling homes.

Ryan Caseis directing the project.

Castro is the creator, writer, executive producer, and star of Comedy Central’s Alternatino.He’s known for his breakout role as Jaimé on Broad City, which aired for five seasons on Comedy Central and will soon be seen in the live action version of Lady and the Trampwhich will be released on Disney+.

Longoria co-stars in the live-action feature film Dora and the Lost City of Gold and will next be seen in the feature film Sylvie opposite Tessa Thompson. She is an executive producer on ABC’s summer drama Grand Hotel.

Garcia recently filmed Brian Petsos’ upcoming feature Big Gold Brick, Words on Bathroom Walls, directed by Thor Freudenthaland Redemption Day, a feature film directed by Hicham Hajji.

Ronstadt Receives the National Medal of Arts

It’s turning out to be an extra special year for Linda Ronstadt

President Barack Obama awarded the 68-year-old Mexican American singer-songwriter the National Medal of Arts at a special ceremony on Monday at the White House.

Linda Ronstadt

During the ceremony, Obama, who hung the medal around Ronstadt’s neck, revealed, “I had a little crush on her back in the day.”

The honor was a particularly special moment for Ronstadt, who didn’t make it to her induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April since Parkinson’s disease limits her ability to travel. The same month her album Heart Like a Wheel was inducted into the Library of CongressNational Recording Registry.

A military aide brought her into the East Room by wheelchair, but she walked to the stage to receive her award as a citation was read honoring her “one-of-a-kind voice” that paved the way for generations of women artists.

Eleven other recipients were awarded the 2013 National Medal of Arts, as the nation’s highest award given to artists and their patrons, including DreamWorks Animation chief Jeffrey Katzenberg and Dominican-American writer Julia Alvarez, author of In the Time of the Butterflies.

Ten were awarded the National Humanities Medal, which honors those in fields including history, literature, languages and philosophy.

During her illustrious career, Ronstadt has earned 11 Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, and an ALMA Award. She’s also earned nominations for a Tony Award and a Golden Globe award.