Starz Renews Monica Raymund’s Crime Drama Series “Hightown” for Third Season

Posted on March 1, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Monica Raymund is riding high(town)…

Starz has renewed its critically acclaimed crime drama series Hightown, starring the 35-year-old half-Dominican American actress, for a third season.

The Cape Cod-set series is created and executive produced by Rebecca Cutter and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer Television and Lionsgate Television.

“Hightown is such an incredible show, and we could not be happier that it’s been renewed for a third season,” said Kathryn Busby, President, Original Programming for Starz. “We are excited to return to Cape Cod to see our iconic characters battle their past mistakes as well as new foes in the dangerous underworld that lies beneath this idyllic setting.”

In Season 2, the picture-perfect version of summer on Cape Cod clashed with its off-season reality. Per the logline: Achieving her dream of becoming a real cop, Jackie Quinones (Raymund) is out to do some good in this world. Thrust immediately into the crime wave of deadly carfentanyl flooding the Cape, Jackie is laser-focused on bringing down drug dealer Frankie Cuevas (Amaury Nolasco), the man Jackie holds responsible for the death of her best friend, Junior. For Jackie, it is personal — but then again, for Jackie, everything is personal.

When Frankie’s cousin Jorge (Luis Guzmán) joins his operation, he introduces a new level of violence and chaos. With disgraced officer Ray Abruzzo (James Badge Dale) off the force and mired in depression, Jackie finds a new partner in Leslie (Tonya Glanz), the only other woman on the force. Through it all, Jackie must walk the tightrope of sobriety as she struggles to stay above an ocean of secrets, betrayal and the shame and failure of her past.

Riley Voelkel, Atkins Estimond, and Dohn Norwood also star.

Cutter made her television directorial debut in Season 2. Oscar-nominated filmmaker Rachel Morrison also directed two of the second season’s 10 episodes.

Raymund, Brandon Sonnier, Radium Cheung, Antonio Negret and Eagle Egilsson also directed in Season 2.

Season 2 is streaming on all Starz platforms.

Paloma Guzman to Recur on Starz’s “Power Book III: Raising Kanan”

Posted on February 25, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Paloma Guzman has (power) booked a new project…

The Latina actress has landed a heavily recurring role in the Starz/Lionsgate Power prequel series, Power Book III: Raising Kanan.

From creator and showrunner Sascha Penn, Power Book III: Raising Kanan takes viewers back to the ’90s and the early years of the now-deceased Kanan Stark, portrayed in Courtney Kemp’s original series by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson.

Guzman will play Detective Regina Foyle, a veteran NYPD detective with a sensitive yet rugged side. She’s a contradiction in all the best ways.

Power Book III: Raising Kanan is executive produced by Kemp through her company End of Episode and Jackson through his G-Unit Film and Television.

Penn is the creator/showrunner of Raising Kanan. Lionsgate Television produces the series for Starz.

Known for her role as Jacki Molina in Pretty Little Liars, Guzman recently wrapped filming a major recurring role on the upcoming season of Roswell, New Mexico.

Her previous credits include a recurring role on the final season of HBO’s The Deuce, as well as roles on Law & Order: SVU, FBI, Shades of Blue, among others.

Psalms Salazar to Star on Season Two of Katori Hall’s Starz Drama Series “P-Valley”

Posted on February 2, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Psalms Salazar is officially a (P-)Valley girl..

The part-Puerto Rican actress has joined the cast of Katori Hall’s P-Valley series for the second season.

Salazar joins returning cast members Nicco Annan, Elarica Johnson, Brandee Evans, Shannon Thornton, Parker Sawyers and more.

Based on Hall’s play Pussy Valley, P-Valley Season 2 returns to the Mississippi Delta where lies an oasis of grit and glitter in a rough patch of human existence where beauty can be hard to find. This Southern-fried, hour-long drama tells the kaleidoscopic story of a “little strip club that could” and the big characters who come through its doors — the hopeful, the lost, the broken, the ballers, the beautiful and the damned. Trap music meets film noir in this lyrical and atmospheric series that dares to ask what happens when small-town folk dream beyond the boundaries of the Piggly Wiggly and the pawnshop.

Salazar joins the cast as a series regular. She plays Whisper, an enigmatic free spirit with a spooky streak who speaks in riddles and eerie truths. She’s blessed with a direct line to the universe and sight beyond the earthly realm. The air to Roulette’s fire, Whisper becomes a full-blown tornado when she hits the pole.

Season 2 will take place five months after the Season 1 finale and will take on The Pynk’s struggle to thrive amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

P-Valley also features Harriett D. Foy, Dan J. Johnson, Tyler Lepley and Skyler Joy.

Hall serves as showrunner and executive producer. Dante Di Loreto also serves as an executive producer on the series. Lionsgate Television produces P-Valley for Starz.

Salazar’s previous credits include Girl Lost: A Hollywood Story.

Luis Guzmán to Star in Jacquelyn Quinones Feature Directorial Debut “Miles Away”

Posted on January 27, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Luis Guzmán is miles away…

The 65-year-old Puerto Rican actor has joined the cast of Miles Away, an upcoming indie from writer, director and producer Jacquelyn Quinones.

Produced by Quinones, Miles Away is a dramedy that explores a day in the life of a rideshare driver, with short vignettes of passengers all feeding into the story of the driver learning to deal with no money, a thankless job and a sister with mental illness.

Andre Royo, Noel Gugliemi, Alberto Frezza, Norma Maldonado, Henri Esteve, Jennifer Bartels, Eddie Martinez, Jessica Sarah Flaum, Marilyn Camacho and Charo Toledo round out the cast of the Puerto Rican filmmaker’s feature directorial debut, in which she also appears.

“Excited to be part of this project. Jackie Quinones is a new voice for a new generation. Her work personifies the social and cultural diversity reminiscent of the now and necessary for the future,” said Guzmán. “She is an insightful creative, her work transcends stereotypes. Miles Away finds a unique harmony toeing the line of conventional storytelling and inventive hybrid genre narratives focusing on social change.”

Guzmán is an Independent Spirit Award nominee who has garnered nearly 160 screen credits over the course of his five-decades and change in entertainment.

He can currently be seen in the Starz drama Hightown and will next appear in Tim Burton’s Netflix series Wednesday, among other projects.

The actor is also known for turns films like Top Five, We’re the Millers, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, He’s Just Not That Into You, Yes Man, School for Scoundrels, Fast Food Nation, Waiting…, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd, Anger Management, Punch-Drunk Love, Boogie Nights and Traffic, among many others.

Additional television credits include Ultra City Smiths, Shameless, Godfather of Harlem, Code Black, Roadies, Narcos and Oz.

Mishel Prada Starring in VH1’s Made-for-TV Holiday Movie “Let’s Get Merried”

Posted on November 5, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Mishel Prada is getting merried…

VH1 is launching its Naughty or Nice strand at the end of November through December with several made-for-television movies, including Let’s Get Merried starring the 31-year-old part-Puerto Rican, Dominican and Mexican American actress.

Executive produced by Eva Longoria, Adriana Martinez Barron and Ben Spector, the film was written by Sasha Perl-Raver and directed by Veronica Rodriguez.

Let’s Get Merried, which launches on December 13, centers around a bachelorette weekend at a Christmas-themed adventure park that gets all kinds of holly jolly when a hard-partying, down-on-her-luck, holiday-hater decides to get married. That day. To a man she has yet to meet.

In addition to Prada, the film also stars Xosha Roquemore, Tahj Mowry, Nicolette Pearse, Nicole Power and Savannah Basley.

Prada’s previous credits include Starz’s Vida and Fear the Walking Dead: Passage.

Tracy Perez to Appear on Season Two of Starz’s “Power Book III: Raising Kanan”

Posted on November 3, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Tracy Perez is powering up…

The Latina actress has joined the cast of Starz’ Power Book III: Raising Kanan for Season 2 in a recurring role.

Perez will portray Detective Adina Foyle, Detective Burke’s (Shanley Caswell) ex-girlfriend who is making a comeback as her new girlfriend.

Power Book III: Raising Kanan is executive produced by Kemp through her company End of Episode and Jackson through his G-Unit Film and Television. Penn is the creator/showrunner of Raising Kanan.

Lionsgate Television produces the series for Starz.

Perez most notably starred in Hulu’s East Los High in the role of Vanessa De La Cruz across the show’s four seasons from 2013 to 2017. Her television credits also include roles in Animal Kingdom, Deadwax, and The Strain.

She will next appear in the Christian Sesma-directed film, Section Eight.

Monica Raymund to Star in Dick Wolf’s Scripted Podcast Drama Series “Dark Woods”

Posted on November 1, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a dark time for Monica Raymund.

The 35-year-old half-Dominican American actress and Hightown star will star opposite Corey Stoll and Reid Scott in Dark Woods, a scripted podcast drama series from Dick Wolf’s Wolf Entertainment.

The thriller centers around the suspicious death of a young park volunteer in the California Redwood Forest.

It’s the Law & Order creator’s second foray into the world of scripted podcasts after the launch of Hunted, starring Parker Posey and Brandon Scott, in 2019.

It brings together two actors from the wider Wolf world; Stoll played Detective Tomas Jaruszalski in Law & Order: LA, while Raymund starred as Gabriela Dawson Casey in Chicago Fire.

The series, which launches on November 8, begins when the body of a young volunteer is discovered in the middle of the California redwoods. It brings together two estranged ex-spouses, a stubborn game warden and a charismatic councilwoman, who must put their personal differences aside to learn the terrifying truth about what is happening in their state park. The investigation leads to a surprising twist impacted by illegal marijuana grow sites and a much larger crime organization.

Written by David Pergolini and directed by Takashi Doscher, it is executive-produced by Dick Wolf and Elliot Wolf. The series is produced by Wolf Entertainment and Endeavor Content in association with Waverunner Studios.

The series was recorded remotely with Raymund recording during breaks from Starz’ Hightown, Stoll was in New York and Scott was in LA.

Wolf (right) added that the sound design was key to the audio drama, the idea of creating traditional scenes that would be strong enough to follow along without a visual.

“The goal was to make this as an immersive experience as possible and to make it feel as real life as possible. The actual sound design is largely recorded sounds in the forest. When you hear a coffee mug being picked up, it’s an actual coffee mug,” he said.

Chrissie Fit to Star in Indie Comedy “The List”

Posted on November 1, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Chrissie Fit is makin’ The List…

The 37-year-old Cuban American actress has joined the cast of The List, the indie comedy from director Melissa Miller Costanzo.

Fit forms part of a list of new cast additions that includes Jonah Platt, Will Peltz and Zach Reino.

They join previously announced leads Halston Sage, Christian Navarro and Gregg Sulkin.

The film written by Rob Lederer and Steve Vitolo centers on Abby (Sage), a woman who is about to get married, for whom everything is perfect. Until she finds out her fiancé Matt (Platt) has slept with a celebrity from his “free pass” list. To get her mind off things, Abby and her best friend Chloe (Fit) come up with a crazy idea: Abby should pursue a celebrity from her own list. But things become complicated when she meets Jake (Navarro), a sweet and charming waiter at a neighborhood cafe, who gives her a fresh perspective.

Peltz is portraying Avon, an LA-based rapper/pop star who is on a lot of free pass lists, including Abby’s, with Reino as Matt’s best friend and consistent bad influence, Connor.

Fit is best known for turns in Universal’s Pitch Perfect franchise and Disney Channel’s Teen Beach films. She can currently be seen in Amazon’s series reboot of I Know What You Did Last Summer, and will next be seen in Showtime comedy series I Love This for You, as well as Starz’ horror comedy, Shining Vale.

Fit has also recurred on Comedy Central’s Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens and Disney Channel’s Elena of Avalor, among other series. Additional film credits include Universal’s All My Life and HBO Max’s Women Is Losers.

Reino is a comedian and actor who has appeared on the TV side in HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, Netflix’s Brews Brothers, A.P. Bio, Sofia the First, Speechless, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and more. He recently wrote on Peacock’s new series Baking It with Maya Rudolph and Andy Samberg and co-hosts Off Book, a popular podcast, which originally debuted on Earwolf. Reino also co-wrote the script for Elizabeth Banks’ upcoming Amazon film Where the Fore Are We? with David Wain and Jess McKenna.

Allen Maldonado Joins Netflix & Legendary’s “Tomb Raider” Anime Series

Posted on October 30, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Allen Maldonado is ready to raid tombs…

The 38-year-old half-Puerto Rican actor and filmmaker has joined the voice cast of of Netflix and Legendary’s Tomb Raider anime series alongside Shadow of the Tomb Raider video game franchise alum Earl Baylon.

The project is based on the Square Enix action-adventure video game that has spawned comic books and three feature films, with a fourth on the way.

Maldonado and Baylon join previously announced Hayley Atwell, who voices iconic adventurer Lara Croft. The announcement comes as part of Square Enix, Crystal Dynamics, and Eidos-Montréal Tomb Raider 25th anniversary celebration.

The series will pick up after the video game reboot trilogy and follow the heroine 25 years after her first game appeared as she explores new territory.

Tomb Raider will be written by Tasha Huo, who is executive producing with dj2 Entertainment founder and CEO Dmitri M. Johnson, Stephan Bugaj and Howard Bliss. Jacob Robinson will be an executive producer via his company Tractor Pants.

Baylon will reprise his role from the video game as the voice of one of Lara’s most-trusted friends and voice of reason, Jonah Maiava.

Maldonado will voice tech expert and colleague Zip.

The Tomb Raider video games, developed by Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montréal and published by Square Enix, have sold more that 85 million copies in their quarter-century of existence. The most recent release in the series was 2018’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

Allen is a series regular on Starz’s Heels. He’s also been cast in New Line’s reimagining of the 1990 hit comedy House Party for HBO Max and will be seen in Psych 3.

STXfilms Acquires Worldwide Rights to Melissa Barrera-Starrer “Bed Rest”

Posted on October 25, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Melissa Barrera’s latest project is going global…

STXfilms has acquired the worldwide rights to Bed Rest, a supernatural thriller to star the 31-year-old Mexican actress/singer and In The Heights star.

Writer-director Lori Evans Taylor will make her directorial debut on the project.

After years of struggling to start a family, Julie Rivers (Barrera) is pregnant again and moving into a new home with her husband as they embrace a fresh start. Upon being ordered to mandatory bed rest, Julie begins to slowly unravel as she suffers through the monotony and anxiety of her new constraints. Soon, terrifying ghostly experiences in the home begin to close in on Julie, stirring up her past demons and causing others to question her mental stability. Trapped and forced to face her past and the supernatural, Julie fights to protect herself and her unborn baby.

Bed Rest is being produced by William Sherak, James Vanderbilt, and Paul Neinstein through their Project X banner, along with Evans Taylor and Barrera. Cameras roll next month in Winnipeg.

STXfilms will release Bed Rest directly in the US, UK and Ireland, and in the rest of the world through its network of foreign distribution partners.

“Bed Rest is a chilling supernatural cinematic thriller,” said Adam Fogelson, chairman, STXfilms Motion Picture Group. “Lori Evans Taylor’s script was on the Black List for a reason: her compelling writing comes from a personal point of view we haven’t often seen on the big screen, and that will elevate the material. We’re also big believers in Melissa Barrera’s talent as an actress to bring this character to life. Horror has been a consistently successful genre for us at STX, and as a studio with a strong track record supporting female filmmakers, we are proud to be releasing Lori’s directorial debut. We’re also thrilled to be in business with William, James, Paul and the Team at Project X on a movie that will keep audiences riveted.”

Project X partners Sherak, Vanderbilt and Neinstein added, “We have known Lori both personally and professionally for years and have always been huge fans of her writing. This screenplay was so unnerving and deeply felt, we knew she was the right director to bring this to the screen. We had just worked with Melissa on Scream, where we saw her incredible talent first hand. We’re thrilled to have put them together, and that our longtime friends at STX will be our partners on this project. Their success with low and mid budget films and their commitment to female and diverse talent, both in front of and behind the camera, make them the ideal home for this film.”

In addition to In the Heights, and the upcoming Scream from Spyglass Media and Paramount, Barrera starred in the musical Carmen, and the Netflix series Breathe. She previously starred in the Starz series Vida and the independent film All The World Is Sleeping, which recently premiered at the New York Latino Film Festival. She was recently announced as Clinique’s new Global Ambassador.

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