Michael Cimino to Star in Thriller Podcast Series “Jane Anonymous” for Apple Podcasts & the Fictionz App

Michael Cimino is ready to thrill

The 22-year-old half-Puerto Rican will star opposite Mina Sundwall in the thriller podcast series Jane Anonymous, which will premiere exclusively on Apple Podcasts and the Fictionz App.

Michael CiminoThe series based on the novel of the same name by Laurie Faria Stolarz was adapted by Stephanie Wu.

It will follow Jane (Sundwall), a 18-year-old girl who fights to escape a kidnapper—examining her relationship with a fellow captive (Cimino), and their struggle to understand that everything they thought they knew might all be a lie.

Andres Rosende, who produces and edits the popular Bad Friends podcast from comedians Bobby Lee and Andrew Santino, is directing the series, which will consist of five, 20-minute episodes.

The first is slated for release on June 2nd. Sundwall and Cimino are exec producing alongside Fictionz, which is serving as the project’s financier and distributor.

“Laurie’s confessional style of writing lends itself well to the podcast medium,” said Rosende. “This has been a passion project for me since Fictionz brought me the book.”

“It has been such a great experience working with everyone and playing off of Michael in adapting this book to audio!,” said Sundwall.

“Through Andres’ direction and Laurie and Stephanie’s writing, Mina and I have become completely absorbed in this narrative as actors and producers and hope that audiences will love it as much as we do,” added Cimino.

Cimino plays the titular character on Hulu’s Love, Victor series and can also currently be seen in Netflix’s Rebel Wilson comedy Senior Year. Additional credits include Annabelle Comes Home and the podcast series Black Box, with Joel McHale, Kelsey Grammer and more.

Rosende also recently served as the director of Fictionz’s Two Year Man. Wu penned Two Year Man, helmed the short Green Plastic Sandals with Rosende and co-wrote Sara Zandieh’s feature rom-com, A Simple Wedding.

Netflix & DreamWorks Animation Release Full Trailer for Guillermo del Toro’s “Trollhunters: Rise Of The Titans”

Guillermo del Toro on the hunt

Netflix and DreamWorks Animation have released the first full trailer for Trollhunters: Rise Of The Titans, which was co-written and executive-produced by the 56-year-old Mexican Oscar-winning filmmaker.

Guillermo del Toro

The animated film, which will be released on the streaming service on July 21, is set in the world created by del Toro in his epic Emmy-winning Tales Of Arcadia trilogy.

In the animated fantasy adventure, Arcadia may look like an ordinary town but it lies at the center of magical and mystical lines that makes it a nexus for many battles among otherworldly creatures including trolls, aliens and wizards. Now, the heroes from the Trollhunters series team up in their most epic adventure yet, where they must fight the Arcane Order for control over the magic that binds them all.

Trollhunters: Rise Of The Titans

“From the beginning, I tried to get together a group that would bring things to the table that were different,” says del Toro of the team behind the project.

He says the project was conceived as “three series that you can put together like a diorama and then you see how on an early episode of Trollhunters you’re going to see the characters of wizards and 3Below interacting, and then go back on a Möbius strip and see other episodes from the others’ point of view. Then finish with a movie.” He noted, “It sounded really crazy, but we were very careful in how we developed the assets, but also in the storytelling.”

Trollhunters: Rise Of The Titans

del Toro previously pitched the series as live-action and set in the 1980s. Per del Toro, then-DWA chief Jeffrey Katzenberg replied, “We don’t do TV.” So, del Toro explained, “we started to try to cram it all into a feature. It was impossible.” Then, “One fateful morning Jeffrey invited me for breakfast, and when he pays for breakfast there’s something about to go, and he said, ‘Don’t kill me, but what do you think about doing it as a TV series?’ And I said, ‘That’s the best news we’ve ever had.’”

Trollhunters: Rise Of The Titans

The extensive voice cast includes Emile Hirsch, Lexi Medrano, Charlie Saxton, Kelsey Grammer, Alfred Molina, Steven Yeun, Nick Frost, Colin O’Donoghue, Diego Luna, Tatiana Maslany, Cole Sand, Nick Offerman, Fred Tatasciore, Brian Blessed, Kay Bess, Piotr Michael, James Hong, Tom Kenny, Angel Lin, Amy Landecker, Jonathan Hyde, Bebe Wood, Laraine Newman, Grey Griffin and Cheryl Hines.

Along with del Toro, writers are Marc Guggenheim, Dan Hageman and Kevin Hageman.

Guillermo del Toro’s Animated “Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans” Film to Premiere on Netflix in July

Guillermo del Toro will be troll-ing Netflix this summer…

The 56-year-old Mexican filmmaker and two-time The Shape of Water Oscar has shared the release date and first teaser for his NetflixDreamWorks Animation movie Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans

Guillermo del Toro

Executive produced by del Toro, the filmwill hit the service on July 21.

The film is set in the world created by del Toro in his epic Tales of Arcadia trilogy. Arcadia may look like an ordinary town but it lies at the center of magical and mystical lines that makes it a nexus for many battles among otherworldly creatures including trolls, aliens and wizards. Now the heroes from the Trollhunters series team up in their most epic adventure yet where they must fight the Arcane Order for control over the magic that binds them all.

The film features the voices of Emile Hirsch, Lexi Medrano, Charlie Saxton, Kelsey Grammer, Alfred Molina, Steven Yeun, Nick Frost, Colin O’Donoghue, Diego Luna, Tatiana Maslany, Cole Sand, Nick Offerman, Fred Tatasciore, Brian Blessed, Kay Bess, Piotr Michael, James Hong, Tom Kenny, Angel Lin, Amy Landecker, Jonathan Hyde, Bebe Wood, Laraine Newman, Grey Griffin and Cheryl Hines.

https://twitter.com/NetflixFilm/status/1387074059884634118

Johane Matte, Franisco Ruiz Velasco, and Andrew L. Schmidt directed from a screenplay written by Marc Guggenheim, Dan Hageman, and Kevin Hageman. EPs with del Toro are Guggenheim, Dan Hageman, Kevin Hageman and Chad Hammes.

Maurice Benard to Appear on the Daytime Emmy Awards

Maurice Benard has special plans this Friday…

The 57-year-old Salvadorian and Nicaraguan American actor and General Hospital star is set to appear on the 47th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards this Friday on CBS.

Maurice Bernard

Benard, who has portrayed Sonny Corinthos on General Hospital since 1993, is a two-time Daytime Emmy Award winner, including a win last year in the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series category.

Bernard joins a presenters and performers roster that includes Kelly Ripa and Ryan SeacrestKelsey GrammerGayle King, Melody Scott ThomasKathie Lee Gifford, Cookie MonsterScott EvansPatrika Darbo, Kevin FrazierWayne BradyMichael Strahan, James ReynoldsJacqueline MacInnes WoodNate BurlesonSunny Hostin and Eric Braeden.

The event’s hosts will be Sharon OsbourneSheryl UnderwoodEveCarrie Ann Inaba and Marie Osmond.

This year, awards in the leading categories will be presented virtually, with recipients and other guests appearing from home. Additional categories will be announced on the Daytime Emmys’ social media accounts simultaneously with the CBS broadcast, with some immediately following the broadcast and others streamed in separate virtual ceremonies on July 19 and July 26.

The 47th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards will be broadcast Friday, June 26, 8:00 – 10:00 pm ET/PT) on CBS.

Categories scheduled for the CBS broadcast include:

Outstanding Drama Series
Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Outstanding Entertainment News Show
Outstanding Writing Team for a Drama Series
Outstanding Digital Drama Series
Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host
Outstanding Game Show Host
Outstanding Game Show
Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series
Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show
Outstanding Informative Talk Show
Outstanding Younger Performer in a Drama Series
Outstanding Legal/Courtroom Program
Outstanding Special Class Special
Outstanding Culinary Series
Outstanding Morning Show
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Guillermo Del Toro Unveils Trailer for His Diego Luna-Voiced Series “DreamWorks Tales of Arcadia: 3Below”

Guillermo Del Toro is going 3 below

The 54-year-old Mexican Oscar-winning filmmaker, screenwriter and producer has unveiled a first look at Netflix’s DreamWorks Tales of Arcadia: 3Below, the second chapter in the DreamWorks Tales of Arcadia.

Guillermo del Toro

del Toro, 3Below’screator and executive producer, shared details of the project at New York Comic Con. He was joined by voice talent Diego Luna, and fellow executive producers Rodrigo Blaas, Marc Guggenheim and Chad Hammes.

The series will feature Luna and Tatiana Maslany in the lead roles of Krel and Aja. Nick Offerman, Andy Garcia, Nick Frost, Alon AboutboulChris Obi, Uzo Aduba, Cheryl HinesTom Kenny, Haley Atwell, Danny Trejo, and Ann Dowd will be lending their voices along with returning talent from Trollhunters including Emile Hirsch, Charlie Saxton, Lexi Medrano, Steven YeunCole Sands, Kelsey Grammer and more.

Additionally, The Crystal Method created the main title theme that is heard in the opening credits video.

In 3Below,two royal teenage aliens, and their bodyguard flee a surprise takeover of their home planet by an evil dictator and crash land in Arcadia. Now on the run from intergalactic bounty hunters, they struggle to blend in and adapt to the bizarre world of high school all the while attempting to repair their ship so they can return and defend their home planet.

DreamWorks Tales of Arcadia: 3Belowpremieres on December 21 on Netflix.

Brent Rivera to Star in Hulu & AwesomenessTV’s Horror Series “Light as a Feather”

Brent Rivera has found his Light

Hulu and AwesomenessTV have set the cast for their upcoming horror series Light as a Feather, with the 20-year-oldYouTube star and actor making the grade.

Brent Rivera

Production is underway in Los Angeles on the 10-episode, straight-to-series supernatural thriller from AwesomenessTVWattpad and Kelsey Grammer’s Grammnet. Based on a story by Zoe Aarsen that has more than 2.9M reads on Wattpad, the series is created and executive produced by R. Lee Fleming Jr.

The logline: An innocent game of “Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board” goes wrong when the five teen girls who played start dying off in the exact way that was predicted, forcing the survivors to figure out why they’re being targeted – and whether the evil force hunting them down is one of their own.

In addition to Rivera, best known on YouTube as MrBrent98, the cast also includesLiana Liberato, Haley Ramm, Ajiona Alexus, Brianne TjuPeyton List, Dylan Sprayberry, Jordan Rodrigues and Dorian Brown Pham.

Rivera will portray Issac in the series.

Carey Hires New PR Representation & Management Team

Mariah Carey has new representation…

A day after the 45-year-old half Venezuelan singer and her longtime publicist Cindi Berger parted ways, Carey announced her new PR and management team.

Mariah Carey

Chris Chambers of the Chambers Group, who’s worked with Lil Wayne, Drake and many other artists over his long career, will her as her PR agent. Her fifth set of managers since 2013: TV producers Brian Sher and Stella Bulochnikov.

Carey’s new managers have worked together on several projects, most recently E!’s Christian Milian Turned Up and VH1’s T.I.’s Family Hustle and Tiny & Shekinah’s Weave Trip. Sher, who has worked as T.I.’s agent since 2004 and his co-manager since 2009, has been credited with helping to rebrand the rapper’s image via the television shows.

Sher began his career as a production assistant before beginning his career in ICM’s mailroom. He rose to the role of agent in 2000 and left in 2008 to form Category 5 Entertainment, where he begin working with T.I., Michael Vick (executive producing The Michael Vick Project for BET) and partnered with Kelsey Grammer in Grammnet NH.

Bulochnikov is a producer and writer who’s worked with Sher on Boss, T.I. & Tiny and Larry the Cable Guy’s Star-Studded Christmas Extravaganza.  She has a long history as a producer with Viacom shows dating back to 2001, including VH1 Divas, I Love the ‘80s and ‘90s, and several Paris Hilton Specials.

The moves come ahead of several big projects for the singer, who has stumbled in recent months with the poor sales of Me. I Am Mariah … The Elusive Chanteuse, the lowest-selling non-holiday studio album of her career and several wobbly live performances. On May 6, she begins a Las Vegas residency at The Colosseum at Caesar’s Palace, the same venue where Celine Dion will return on Aug. 27 after a year-long hiatus. Also expected later this year is a newly repackaged greatest-hits set called #1’s, the first release in her new deal with Epic Records, to accompany her Vegas show. She also has a Christmas movie on the horizon, according to Deadline.

Among other chart feats, Carey holds the record for total time spent at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, 79 weeks total, and also holds the record for longest-running Hot 100 No. 1 single (for 1995’s “One Sweet Day” with Boyz II Men, 16 weeks at No. 1), although she hasn’t had a Top 10 single since 2009’s “Obsessed.”

Carey had three management teams in 2013 alone, beginning with a Randy Jackson/Irving Azoff partnership, then Bruce Eskowitz of Red Light Management and then Jermaine Dupri, who produced some of her biggest hits including “We Belong Together.” Dupri gradually gave way to Kevin Liles, who semi-officially took the reins in August of 2014 but recently dropped out.

The news was first reported by Page Six and confirmed to Billboard by Chambers Group.

Alba to Make Cameo Appearance in “Entourage” Film

Jessica Alba is joining an extra special entourage

The 33-year-old half-Mexican-American actress is set to make a cameo appearance in the highly anticipated Entourage movie.

Jessica Alba

Nearly 5-years after the HBO series ended its run, Vinnie Chase and his posse are coming back. As this new trailer reveals Vince, Turtle, Drama, E and former super agent and now studio boss Ari Gold are back and larger than ever on the big screen.

The Warner Bros. film looks to be living up to its tagline of “Dream Large. Live Larger.” In addition to original cast members Adrian Grenier, Kevin Connolly, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara, and Jeremy Piven, the film also stars Alba, NFLers Russell Wilson and Tom Brady Liam Neeson, Voice coach and mega-producer Pharrell, Star Trek’s George Takei, Andrew Dice Clay, beloved billionaire Warren Buffett, Armie Hammer, Kelsey Grammer and Modern Family’s Ed O’Neil.

The Entourage movie opens in theaters on June 5.

Trailer Released for “Reach Me,” Starring Trejo, Sylvester Stallone and Kelsey Grammer

Danny Trejo’s latest project will have a different kind of reach

The 70-year-old Mexican American actor, who often stars in action films as hypermasculine characters, villains and anti-heroes, is starring opposite Sylvester Stallone and Kelsey Grammer in the dramedy Reach Me.

Danny Trejo

Trejo portrays Vic in the film, which centers on a group of people who all have a connection to a self-help book authored by a reclusive former football coach.

Directed by John Herzfeld, the indie film also stars Lauren Cohan, Terry Crews, Nelly, Kevin Connoly, Tom Sizemore, Ryan Kwanten, Kyra Sedgwick, Danny Trejo, Tom Berenger and Danny Aiello.

“It’s a feel-good movie with an upbeat, inspirational story. It’s about a dozen broken characters who get a second chance in life by coming into contact with this book,” says Herzfeld.

The project initially launched a Kickstarter campaign, but later switched to a similar yet more flexible platform, Indiegogo, which allows international contributions and pledges beyond $10k.

Roday to Star in the Drama “Baby, Baby, Baby”

James Roday has landed a baby, baby baby of a role…

The 38-year-old Mexican American actor stars in actor-writer-director Brian Klugman’s drama Baby, Baby, Baby.

James Roday

The film follows a writer navigating life and relationships, and it tracks the relationship between two mismatched people who try to move past their baggage to make their love work.

Klugman stars as a writer of short stories living in Los Angeles whose mind wanders into fantasy asides starring famous people reflecting the state of his relationship.

Adrianne Palicki and Michaela Conlin star as the two women in his life, with Conlin playing Klugman’s ex-girlfriend and Palicki as the painter he moves on with.

In addition to Roday, Kulgman, Palicki and Conlin, the film also stars Kelsey Grammer and Kelly McCreary, as well as features a number of celebrity cameos that are being kept under wraps.

 

Baby, Baby, Baby shot for 22 days on location in LA and will feature music by Rilo Kiley’s Blake Sennett.