Netflix to Premiere Ralph Barbosa’s First Special for the Streamer Next Month

Ralph Barbosa is preparing to treat fans to a little laughter this Halloween.

Netflix has set a Halloween global premiere for the 26-year-old Latino comedian’s Ralph Barbosa: Cowabunga, its first special from the rising star.

Ralph BarbosaThe special was shot in August as part of his ongoing North American tour.

The hour-long special, taped at The Kessler Theater in Barbosa’s hometown of Dallas, premieres globally on Tuesday, October 31st.

At Netflix, Barbosa joins the likes of Matt RifeJamie Demetriou and Luenell, comics who have likewise closed deals for forthcoming specials with the streamer. The latter’s special, Chappelle’s Home Team- Luenell: Town Business, executive produced by Dave Chappelle as part of an ongoing series, is slated to premiere September 26th.

The impending arrival of Barbosa’s special is just the latest in a whirlwind year for the comic, who made his debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in January. His new hour offers a glimpse into the world of this gamer as he shares stories of growing up with his grandparents, running a hair cutting business out of his bedroom as a 13-year-old, why he asked his dad if he needed to go to the moon to return moon rocks and his fantasy of being passenger prince to his street-racing dream girl.

Eric Abrams directed the special, with Barbosa executive producing alongside Rotten Science’s Matthew Vaughan and 3 Arts Entertainment’s Zack Waxenberg.

Known for his disarming, laid-back style of stand-up, Barbosa’s recent short set for the digital series Comedy Central Stand-Up Featuring has topped 3.5 million views on YouTube. The comic currently selling out venues across North America also last November teamed with Gwen La Roka on the HBO Max comedy special, Entre Nos: The Winners 3, after winning the Latino Stand-Up! Comedy Competition presented by The New York Latino Film Festival and HBO Latino in 2021.

Barbosa also won the Funniest Comic in Texas competition in 2019 and garnered 4.6M YouTube views with a performance for secret pop-up comedy show organizer Don’t Tell Comedy.

Spain Selects J.A. Bayona’s “Society of Snow” as Its Entry for the Oscars’ Best International Feature Film Race

J.A. Bayona is in the running for a potential Academy Award

Spain has selected the 48-year-old Spanish filmmaker’s latest film, Society of the Snow as its entry for the Best International Feature Film race at the 2024 Oscars.

J.A. BayonaThe announcement marks the first time a Netflix-backed film has been selected by Spain and the second time J.A. Bayona has made the cut following his 2007 film The Orphanage.

Society of the Snow closed this year’s Venice Film Festival. Based on the book of the same name by Pablo Vierci, first published in 2008, the film charts the story of the 45 people who, on October 13, 1972, boarded Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 from Montevideo to Chile. There were five crew members on board and 40 passengers, including 19 members of the Old Christians Club rugby team. Tragedy struck when the pilot began his descent too early, crashing into the Andes and killing 12 immediately. The survivors clung to the belief that help was coming, but none did. After weeks of hunger, having exhausted everything in the plane’s hold, they were forced to do the unthinkable and eat the flesh of those who had died. The story was told by Frank Marshall in the 1993 film Alive.

J.A. Bayona, La Sociedad De La Nieve, Society of the SnowStarring in the Spanish-language film are Enzo Vogrincic, Matías Recalt, Agustín Pardella, Esteban Kukuriczka and Tomas Wolf.

The film is produced by Belén Atienza, Sandra Hermida and Bayona. The screenplay comes from Bayona, Bernat Vilaplana, Jaime Marques and Nicolás Casariego from the novel by Pablo Vierci. The director of photography is Pedro Luque.

Last year Spain selected Carla Simón’s Berlinale winner Alcarràs for the Best International Feature Film race. The film didn’t make the final shortlist.

Noah Centineo Signs with William Morris Endeavor (WME)

Noah Centineo has new representation…

The 27-year-old part-Puerto Rican actor has signed with William Morris Endeavor (WME) for representation.

Noah CentineoMost recently, Centineo starred in and served as Executive Producer of the Netflix series The Recruit, which returns for a second season next year.

Centineo will also be featured in A24’s Dream Scenario, which made its debut to rave reviews at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.

This year, Centineo launched production company Arkhum Productions alongside Head of Production Enzo Marc focusing on comedy and drama projects with an emphasis on social commentary. The Greatest Disaster in Cinema History will mark one of their first projects, with Centineo set to star.

In 2022, Centineo played Atom Smasher in Black Adam from the Warner Bros. DC Universe.

Centineo rose to fame in the popular Netflix trilogy To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, for which he won an MTV Movie & TV Award for Best Breakthrough Performance.

 

A24 Acquires U.S. Theatrical Rights to Colman Domingo-Starrer “Sing Sing”

Colman Domingo will be (sing) singing in U.S. theaters next year.

A24 has acquired U.S. theatrical rights to Sing Sing, the Greg Kwedar-directed drama that stars the 53-year-old Belizean-Guatemalan American actor and social justice activist.

Colman DomingoThe film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) to rapturous reviews and A24 is plotting a 2024 theatrical release.

Financed and produced by Black Bear, the Marfa Peach Company and Edith Productions, Sing Sing revolves around a theater group that escapes the reality of incarceration through the creativity of staging a play, with a cast that includes actors who have been incarcerated. Clint Bentley & Kwedar adapted the script from Brent Buell’s play, Breakin’ The Mummy’s Code and John H. Richardson’s The Sing Sing Follies.

Bentley and Kwedar produced with Monique Walton. Colman Domingo, Raul Domingo, Michael Heimler, Teddy Schwarzman, Larry Kalas, Larry Kelly, Nancy Schafer, Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin, and John “Divine G” Whitfield are the executive producers.

CAA Media Finance brokered the domestic deal, and Black Bear is selling international territories.

Domingo turned in two strong performances in festival films, with the other being his turn as Bayard Rustin in Netflix’s Rustin. That is the George C. Wolfe-directed drama about how Rustin was the quiet organizational catalyst of the Civil Rights march on Washington, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his iconic speech.

Sing Sing has quite a backstory.,

In keeping with the filmmakers’ deep respect for their collaborators, a concept that Kwedar and Bentley had initially developed for their film Jockey was employed on Sing Sing. The project is a SAG-AFTRA guild signatory but not members of other guilds, and the filmmakers wanted to ensure that everyone involved in the film felt like an equal, and shared in the upside of the film’s success. The filmmakers deployed a community-based model, where every member of the film was treated equally and became a profit participant.

“Everybody got paid the same rate, be it cast or crew, based on the SAG scale rate. And then, everyone shared in a piece of the equity. I’d never heard of an equity model that invited everyone to fully participate,” says producer Monique Walton. That approach appealed to cast members like Domingo, too. “There’s no money on the table for you,” he says. “But there’s a sense of purpose, and that’s the sort of art you make time for. There’s an understanding that, at the heart of it, everyone involved is in it for the right reasons.”

Each member of the cast and crew received a pro rata portion of the film’s equity pool, based on the amount of days worked and the period of creative services provided. Each member of the cast and crew, from Domingo to the PAs, were paid the same daily and weekly rate. Every single qualified member of the production meaningfully participates in the financial success. And because of that arrangement, “this radical transparency birthed a radical trust,” says Kwedar. “We realized that we rise and fall together, we all shared the same goals, and there was no hierarchy. It was a culture where the best ideas could come forward from anyone on the team and be heard.”

Netflix Renews Iñaki Godoy-Starrer “One Piece” for Second Season

Iñaki Godoy is preparing for another season of Piece

Netflix has picked up a second season of One Piece, its hit live-action adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s best-selling manga starring the 20-year-old Mexican actor.

Iñaki GodoyThe announcement was made via social media in a special message from Oda himself.

“To the Straw Hat Grand Fleet: What did you think of Season 1 of the live-action One Piece? I spent a long time working on it with Netflix and Tomorrow Studios. It seems people around the world have been enjoying the show, which makes the hard work from the production team truly worth it,” he said, before adding: “Two weeks after the launch, I just received some great news. Netflix has decided to renew the show! The adventures of Iñaki and the live-action Straw Hats will continue onward!”

Oda warned fans it will “still take a while” for the scripts for Season 2, asking for patience. However, as Deadline reported earlier this week, One Piece is believed to have written material, a creative outline for where the story could go in Season 2. Writing of scripts is on hold due to the WGA strike.

“Everything we do is in concert with Netflix, [manga publisher] Shueisha and Oda-san, they are a part of that conversation. We’ve definitely had more thorough conversations about what we would do with Season 2 should we have the opportunity, and then less extensive conversations about where we would go for season three to six,” One Piece executive producer Becky Clements told Deadline earlier this week. “The one thing I would say, we’re all unified in the parts of the manga that you just absolutely cannot eliminate, and that’s our guiding principle, the stories that we know and the characters that we know are important to the fans. So that really is the start in breaking future seasons. It will require a lot of conversations, but we feel lucky to have the roadmap.”

The announcement comes shortly after the series wrapped its second week at No. 1 in Netflix’s Top 10 with another dominating performance internationally. Since debuting on the streamer on August 31, One Piece has been off to quite the promising start. In less than two weeks, it has tallied more than 38M views, which is quite a win for Netflix. There’s also been plenty of buzz on social media, indicating that the first season could see enough longevity to make it onto Netflix’s all time most popular TV list.

Based on Oda’s manga title, One Piece follows the otherworldly adventures of Monkey D. Luffy (Godoy) and his pirate crew as they explore exotic islands and endless oceans in search for the ultimate treasure “One Piece” to become the next Pirate King.

The cast also includes McKinley Belcher III, Morgan Davies, Aidan Scott, Vincent Regan, Jeff Ward, Craig Fairbrass, Langley Kirkwood, Celeste Loots, Alexander Maniatis, Ilia Isorelýs Paulino, Chioma Umeala and Steven Ward.

Steven Maeda and Matt Owens serve as writers, executive producers and showrunners. Oda, Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements also executive produce.

One Piece is produced by Tomorrow Studios and Netflix in partnership with Shueisha.

Netflix Releases First Trailer for “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Featuring Paola Nuñez

Paola Nuñez is about to fall

Netflix has released the first trailer for The Fall of the House of Usher, featuring the 45-year-old Mexican actress and producer, ahead of the series’ October 12 premiere.

Paola NuñezFrom creator Mike Flanagan, the 8-episode limited series based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe, follows ruthless siblings Roderick and Madeline Usher who have built Fortunato Pharmaceuticals into an empire of wealth, privilege and power. But past secrets come to light when the heirs to the Usher dynasty start dying at the hands of a mysterious woman from their youth.

In addition to Nunez, The Fall of the House of Usher also stars Bruce Greenwood, Carla Gugino, Mary McDonnell, Carl Lumbly, Mark Hamill, Michael Trucco, T’Nia Miller, Henry Thomas, Kyleigh Curran, Samantha Sloyan, Rahul Kohli, Kate Siegel, Sauriyan Sapkota, Zach Gilford, Willa Fitzgerald, Katie Parker, Malcolm Goodwin, Crystal Balint, Aya Furukawa, Daniel Jun, Matt Biedel, Ruth Codd, Annabeth Gish, Igby Rigney and Robert Longstreet.

Flanagan and Michael Fimognari will each direct four episodes.

Peacock Now Streaming Gina Torres’ “Suits” Spin-off “Pearson”

Gina Torres is suiting up for Peacock…

Peacock is hoping to drive viewership to Pearson, the short-lived Suits spin-off starring the 54-year-old Cuban American actress, after the latter became a surprising hit on Netflix this summer.

Gina TorresThe NBCUniversal streamer has officially added the show, which starred Torres as her Suits character Jessica Pearson, to its service. The hope: that new Suits fans may discover the spinoff as well, which isn’t available on Netflix.

Pearson ran for one season on the cable network in 2019 but was canceled a month and a half after its season ended.

Pearson centered on Torres’ powerhouse lawyer as she enters the dirty world of Chicago politics.

It also stars Bethany Joy Lenz, Morgan Spector, Chantel Riley, Simon Kassianides, Eli Goree and Isabel Arraiza.

Pearson originated on Suits, whose Season 7 finale served as a backdoor pilot for the spinoff.

The offshoot, which hailed from Universal Cable Productions, was executive produced by Suits creator and EP Aaron KorshSuits EP Daniel Arkin, who served as showrunner; Torres; and Suits executive producers Doug Liman, David Bartis and Gene Klein of Hypnotic.

The move will see NBCU try and win over some Netflix subscribers who may have binged (or be binging) parent show Suits, which has spent six weeks on top of the Nielsen charts.

Earlier this summer, the series broke a Nielsen streaming record for acquired programming; it drew 3.1B viewing minutes during the week of June 26 to July 2 across Netflix and Peacock. The first season of the show was also watched for 27.7M hours in the w/c June 19 after being added to Netflix and stayed in that streamer’s top ten for a number of weeks.

Netflix Releases First Trailer for Tyler Dean Flores’ Reggaeton-Themed Comedy Series “Neon”

Tyler Dean Flores is gassed up for his next project…

The first trailer has been released for Netflix’s reggaeton-themed series Neon, starring the 25-year-old Nuyorican actor, ahead of is October 19 premiere.

Tyler Dean FloresFrom creators Shea Serrano and Max SearleNeon follows three friends in Miami as they hustle their way to making it big in the world of reggaeton. The eight-episode comedy captures not only the three besties’ larger-than-life dreams but also the harsh realities and funny mishaps of surviving the music industry.

Flores plays Santi, a rising reggaeton artist who, with the help of his friends Ness (Emma Ferreira), Felix (Jordan Mendoza), and A&R rep Mia (Courtney Taylor), hopes to become the biggest star in reggaeton—or at least pay his rent.

Daddy Yankee, a pioneer of the musical genre, executive produces the series and makes an appearance.

Genesis Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Jhayco, Santiago Cabrera and Jowell are also among the Season 1 guest stars.

Neon co-creator Max Searle serves as showrunner.

In addition to Yankee, the series is executive produced by Serrano and Searle, alongside SB Projects and Anne Clements.

 

Executive music producers include Tainy, Lex Borrero, Ivan Rodriguez, from Ntertain and Neon16, and collectively known as Tainy & One Six. One Six of Neon16 and Ntertain, and Joe Rodriguez and Javier Nuno of Indice are music producers. Jordan Mendoza served as consulting producer; Miguel Nolla, Wally Baram and Frances Lausell produce.

Netflix Renews Manuel Garcia-Rulfo’s “The Lincoln Lawyer” for Third Season

Manuel Garcia-Rulfo is lawyering up for another season…

Netflix has renewed The Lincoln Lawyer, starring the 42-year-old Mexican actor, for a 10-episode third season.

Manuel Garcia-RulfoThe announcement follows a successful sophomore turn that saw the series reach the Top 10 in 81 countries.

Season 3 will be based on The Gods of Guilt, the fifth book in Michael Connelly’s Lincoln Lawyer series.

Garcia-Rulfo will return as Mickey Haller. Additionally, Becki Newton (Lorna), Jazz Raycole (Izzy), Angus Sampson (Cisco), Yaya DaCosta (Andrea Freemann) and others will reprise their roles.

The show follows Mickey Haller, an iconoclastic idealist who runs his law practice out of the back seat of his Lincoln as he takes on cases big and small across the expansive city of Los Angeles. The second season was based on the fourth book in Connelly’s series, The Fifth Witness.

“The audience response to the show has been so gratifying and wonderful, and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to dive back into Michael Connelly’s universe and bring Mickey Haller and his world to the screen again,” said Ted Humphrey and Dailyn Rodriguez, co-showrunners and executive producers.

Humphrey and Rodriguez executive produce alongside David E. Kelley, Connelly, Ross Fineman, Barry Jossen and Tana Jamieson.

The Lincoln Lawyer was created for television by Kelley and developed by Humphrey. A+E Studios is the studio.

Isabella Gomez to Star in Indie Horror Film “The Mannequin”

Isabella Gomez is stylin’ and profilin’…

The 25-year-old Colombian actress, best known for starring in Netflix’s One Day at a Time reboot, will star in the indie horror film The Mannequin, from writer-director John Berardo.

Isabella GomezThe Mannequin follows Liana Rojas (Gomez), a creatively starved stylist assistant who discovers the historical downtown Los Angeles building where her sister mysteriously died is haunted by a serial killer who brutally murdered and dismembered his victims there half a century earlier. This forces Liana and her friends to find a way to free themselves and escape the sinister ghost before they lose their own body parts.

Rounding out the cast is Lindsay LaVanchy playing Hazel Miller, a nurturing leader and friend of Liana; Shireen Lai playing Nadine Yang, a newlywed and posh friend of Liana; Maxwell Hamilton playing Peter Adler, Liana’s ex-boyfriend and paranormal investigator; Gabriella Rivera playing Sophia Rojas, Liana’s sister and determined fashion designer; and Jack Sochet playing Jack Bernard, a sadistic photographer and serial killer.

The Mannequin is produced by Maxwell Hamilton and Ashley Rosenberg.

Gomez most recently starred as Gina Navarro in Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe on the film side and concluded her time in the final season of ABC’s The Goldbergswhere she played Carmen in a recurring role. She is best known for her portrayal of Elena Alvarez in Gloria Calderón Kellet and Mike Royce’s series One Day at a Time, a revival of the 1975 series of the same name.

The Mannequin falls under the SAG-AFTRA Ultra Low Budget Agreement and was just added to the list of projects receiving an interim agreement from the guild. Production will begin in Los Angeles next week.