Anjelah Johnson-Reyes is getting into the Christmas holiday season way early…
The 40-year-old half-Mexican American actress and comedian has joined the cast of Prime Video’s holiday comedy Candy Cane Lane.
Johnson-Reyes is among a list of new cast additions that includes Ken Marino and D.C. Young Fly.
They join previously announced cast members Eddie Murphy, Tracee Ellis Ross, Jillian Bell, Genneya Walton, Madison Thomas, Thaddeus J. Mixson, Robin Thede, Chris Redd and Danielle Pinnock.
Reginald Hudlin directs off a script by Kelly Younger, inspired by his own childhood holiday experiences.
Story details are being kept under wraps.
The movie is shooting in Los Angeles and a part of the California Film & Television Tax Credit Program. The film will stream on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide and marks the first film falling under Murphy’s three-picture and first-look film deal with Amazon Studios.
Johnson-Reyes has six comedy specials streaming on various platforms. Additionally, she has guest starred on shows like Life & Beth, Superstore, The Shield, Ugly Betty andCurb Your Enthusiasm.
Her film credits include Enough Said,Our Family Wedding, and Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel.
The part-Mexican American showrunner, screenwriter and filmmaker and Marcos Luevanos are developing the half-hour comedy Amigosfor NBC.
Teller Ornelas and Luevanos will draw inspiration from their own lifelong friendship for the Universal Television-produced project.
Amigos is about a group of six Latine friends living in Los Angeles wholean and rag on each other as they find love, grow up and figure out what success means in 2022.
Ornelas and Luevanos will write and executive produce alongside Morgan Sackett.
Most recently, Ornelas was showrunner of the Peacock comedy series Rutherford Falls, which she co-created with Mike Schur and Ed Helms.
Previously, she was a co-executive producer on Loot for Apple TV+ and NBC’s Superstore where she worked for three seasons. She has previously written for Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Splitting Up Together, and Happy Endings.
Luevanos is currently a co-executive producer on the new NBC multicam Lopez vs. Lopezstarring George Lopez and his daughter Mayan Lopez.
Previously, Luevanos spent three seasons on the Hulu/Disney+ series Love, Victor produced by Aptaker & Berger and worked on Gloria Calderon Kellett’s With Love, Rutherford Falls, Charmed, and Life In Pieces.
He also currently has a project in the works at 20th Television with Steven Canals executive producing.
The 38-year-old Honduran American actress will star in Disney & Pixar’s new animated film, Elio.
Elio centers on an 11-year-old boy who finds himself transported across the galaxy and is mistaken for the intergalactic Ambassador for our Planet Earth.
Yonas Kibreab stars as Elio, with Ferrera as his mom, Olga Solis.
“Olga is super-confident, smart and can hold her own in any situation,” the Superstoreand Ugly Betty alum says. “She’s a character who speaks to me in so many ways as a mother. And of course, with my advanced mathematical degree, I can finally put it to use. Don’t Google it.”
The film is directed by Annie Award-winning Coco co-helmer and screenwriter Adrian Molina and produced by Mary Alice Drumm.
There’s one last super shift in America Ferrera’s future…
The 36-year-old Honduran American actress will return for the series finale of NBC’s comedy series Superstore.
Ferrera, whose character (Amy Sosa) moved to California for a new corporate gig at Zephra earlier this season, will reunite with the Superstore cast once more as a final farewell.
She will appear in the one-hour series finale on Thursday, March 25 at 8:00 pm ET/PT.
Prior to her departure back in November, Ferrera’s Amy devised a system that would help the the Cloud 9 staff thrive amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. In what was a bittersweet ending to Amy’s Cloud 9 journey, “California Pt. 2” featured fellow staff members celebrating their manager’s new adventure and saw Jonah (Ben Feldman) and Amy end their romantic relationship, and near-engagement, amicably.
Ferrera first announced her exit from the NBC comedy back in February 2020, two weeks after creator Justin Spitzer and Universal Television shared that Superstore was renewed for a sixth season. The actress also executive produced the series and directed four episodes.
Superstore is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, in association with Spitzer Holding Company, Miller Green Broadcasting and The District.
The 36-year-old Honduran American Emmy– and Golden Globe-winning actress will make her feature directorial debut with an adaptation of the New York Times bestselling novel,I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by author Erika Sánchez, who will serve as a co-producer on the film.
Anonymous Content and MACRO are producing the film, which will be released on Netflix.
Linda Yvette Chávez, the co-creator behind the Netflix and MACRO series, Gentefied, adapted the screenplay. Anonymous Content optioned the rights to the book under the company’s first-look deal with Aevitas Creative Management.
Released in 2017, the story follows Julia Reyes, the precocious and strong-willed teenaged daughter of first-generation Mexican immigrants. She often clashes with her more traditional parents, who wish she were more like her sister Olga, the platonic ideal of a Mexican daughter. However, when Olga is killed in a tragic accident, it is up to Julia to hold her family together.
“Years ago, I fell in love with Erika L. Sánchez’ stunning novel, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter,” said Ferrera. “The depth, wit and searing intelligence of her writing, and her young Latina heroine, struck me to my core and left me wanting so much more. I am truly honored and humbled to direct Linda Yvette Chávez’s beautifully adapted screenplay. The opportunity to direct the work of these two incredibly talented Latina writers is a dream come true. I can’t wait to share this film with the many fans of the novel, and to introduce this funny, profound, and resonant story to the world.”
Ferrera rose to acclaim as a headstrong young Latina in Real Women Have Curves. She would later go on to win an Emmy and Golden Globe for her role as Betty Suarez on the ABC series Ugly Betty, which ran for four seasons. She can currently be seen in the sixth and final season of the NBC comedy, Superstore.
NBCUniversal will launch a new series of its popular The More You Know PSAs that tackle systemic racism and speak up for social justice, equality and equity, with the 38-year-old Cuban American actress and Brooklyn Nine-Nine star among the artists taking part.
Fumero joins a roster of NBC talent that includes Dulé Hill, James Roday Rodriguez and Kelly Clarkson, among others.
The campaign was developed in collaboration with social and racial justice organizations Fair Count, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the NAACP, the National Action Network and the National Urban League, and focuses on standing up against injustice, teaching children about equity, and the importance of voting and completing the census, especially for how it impacts the Black community and communities of color.
The campaign kicked off this week on NBC’s Todaywith a spot on teaching children about inclusion and acceptance. The campaign will be rolling out over the next few weeks, with spots now available on TheMoreYouKnow.com and YouTube.
The More You Know site also includes comprehensive resources and educational guides.
“For over 30 years, ‘The More You Know’ has sought to bring light to the nation’s most pressing social issues,” said Craig Robinson, Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer, NBCUniversal, “and we hope this new iteration will continue to educate, encourage and inspire people of all ages to take an active role in improving the world we live in.”
In addition to Fumero, Hill, Roday Rodriguez and Clarkson, stars participating in the campaign include: Carlos Adyan (En Casa con Telemundo), Freema Agyeman (New Amsterdam), Notah Begay III (NBC Sports), Gizelle Bryant (The Real Housewives of Potomac), Kandi Burruss (The Real Housewives of Atlanta), Victor Cruz (E! News), Dexter Darden (Saved by the Bell), Ester Dean (Songland), Ryan Eggold (NewAmsterdam), Soleil Moon Frye (Punky Brewster), Damon Hack (Golf Channel), Zuri Hall (Access Hollywood), Ana Jurka (“En Casa con Telemundo and Titulares y Más), Aneudy Lara (100 Días Para Enamorarnos), Howie Mandel (America’s Got Talent), Christopher Meloni (Law & Order: Organized Crime), Wendy Osefo (The Real Housewives of Potomac), Jeimy Osorio (Telemundo), Nina Parker (E! News’ Nightly Pop), Nichole Sakura (Superstore), Jocko Sims (New Amsterdam), Chris Sullivan (This Is Us”), Justin Sylvester (E! News’ Daily Pop), Elyfer Torres (Enemigo Íntimo) and Reno Wilson (Good Girls).
The 44-year-old Mexican American stand-up comedian and actor will be bringing the laughs to Netflix with his first original comedy special Felipe Esparza: Bad Decisions.
And, the bilingual special will go by the title: Felipe Esparza: Malas Decisiones in Spanish.
Esparza’s specials will be released globally on Tuesday, September 1.
Filmed in Santa Ana, California as two separate performances — one in English and one in Spanish — the specials showcase Esparza’s edgy style of humor as the perfect vehicle to weave through difficult anecdotes of his childhood and mistakes in his adult life with ease.
Bad Decisions/Malas Decisiones mark the first time a Netflix comedian has recorded a stand up special in two languages that are set to be released simultaneously.
The comedian won Last Comic Standing in 2010. Prior to Bad Decisions/Malas Decisiones, Esparza had two comedy specials including They’re Not Gonna Laugh At You(2012) on Showtime and Translate This (2017) on HBO.
He can be seen in the upcoming Steve Byrne comedy feature The Opening Act, as well as the feature 7th & Union. His television credits include NBC’s Superstoreand the Netflix series Gentefied. He’s also the host of the podcast What’s Up Fool, where he talks to random people he finds interesting.
Anjelah Johnson is bringing the laughs to HBO Max.
The 38-year-old Mexican & Native American stand-up comedian, actress and former MADtv cast member is hosting a multi-act special filmed during San Antonio’s HA Comedy Festival, the biggest Latinx comedy festival in the world.
HBO Max will premiere the special, filmed at the Empire Theatre in February, on Thursday, August 20.
The featured acts include Gina Brillon, David Del Rosario, Carmen Lynch, Monique Marvez, Pedro Salinas, Jesus Trejo and Mark Vierq.
Johnson, known her characters of Vietnamese nail salon employee Mỹ Linh/Tammy and rude fast food employee turned music star named Bon Qui Qui,has appeared on television inSuperstoreand Ugly Betty.
NBC has prdered four additional episodes of the 35-year-old Honduran American actress and Emmy-winner’s blue-collar comedy Superstore, bringing its Season 5 total to 22.
Superstorecontinues to be the unsung hero of the network’s Thursday comedy lineup with its solid ratings performance, leading to the additional episode order.
That is considered a full-season order, and, besides the first season, which was short as Superstore started off as a midseason replacement, the comedy has gotten full-season orders every year. It is expected to be the only NBC comedy series this season to produce 22 episodes.
It’s unclear why Superstore had a 18-episode fifth season pickup to begin with, but the back order is a vote of confidence to the series following the showrunner change at the end of Season 4, with creator Justin Spitzerstepping down and Gabe Miller& Jonathan Greentaking over.
So far in its fifth season, Superstore is averaging a 1.2 rating in adults 18-49 and 3.9 million viewers overall in Live+7. It is NBC’s highest rated series on Thursday and the highest rated comedy.
The Season 5 premiere of Superstore has surged to a 2.8 rating in 18-49 and 6.7 million viewers to date when viewing on all platforms is counted, easily tripling the episode’s next-day Live+Same Day 0.8 rating in 18-49. Superstore ranks as one of NBC’s strongest digital performers with a 17% gain in its 18-49 audience on digital platforms this season versus last.
Superstore stars Ferrera, Ben Feldman, Mark McKinney, Lauren Ash,Colton Dunn, Nico Santos, Nichole Bloomand Kaliko Kauahi. The comedy centers around Amy (Ferrera), who recently was promoted to be the store manager and is the glue holding the place together, and Jonah (Feldman), a dreamer determined to prove work doesn’t have to be boring.
Superstore was created by Spitzer, who serves as an executive producer with director Ruben Fleischer, David Bernadand Ferrera. Miller & Green serve as executive producers and co-showrunners. The series is produced by Universal Television, Spitzer Holding Companyand The District.
The Dominican American comedian and actor has been added to cast of CBS’ upcoming drama Tommy as a series regular.
Tommy, from theBull team of co-creator Paul Attanasio and producer Amblin Television, stars Edie Falco as Abigail “Tommy” Thomas, a former high-ranking NYPD officer who becomes the first female Chief of Police for Los Angeles. She uses her unflinching honesty and hardball tactics to navigate the social, political and national-security issues that converge with enforcing the law.
Caamaño plays an ebullient Dominican transplant from Tommy’s home city of New York, who becomes part of her security detail but also her off-the-shelf investigator as she solves crimes in pursuit of the truth.
The series-regular cast also includes Michael Chernus, Adelaide Clemens, Russell G. Jones, Thomas Sadoski, Olivia Lucy Phillipand Joseph Lyle Taylor.
Caamaño previously wrote, produced and headlined his own semi-autobiographical comedy pilot for NBC,A Bronx Life.
His other credits include television appearances onSuperstore, Marvel’s Runaways andBrooklyn Nine-Nine.
Johnson-Reyes is among a list of new cast additions that includes Ken Marino and D.C. Young Fly.
