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Reese Witherspoon has added author to her already multi-hyphenate resume.

The actress revealed on Instagram that she and best-selling author Harlan Coben are collaborating on a thriller book, and the novel is set to release in the fall of 2025.

“As a massive fan of Harlan’s work, I can’t believe he agreed to co-author a novel with me. I’m either the most persuasive person alive or the idea of this book is just Too Good! Maybe both ??...

Exclusive: Tiye and Keisha Mennefee’s audiobook Rifts and Refrains from the latter’s Honey Magnolia Media is being adapted for TV by Attica Locke and Tembi Locke for Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group.

Rifts and Refrains centers on an aspiring Black female writer and musician who discovers a hidden legacy of love, betrayal and music in her estranged grandfather’s past, leading her on a journey of self-discovery and unexpected romance in the heart of Nashville’s country music scene and Memphis, the home of the blues.

“We grew up listening to Charley Pride and Muddy Waters in our grandmother’s house in Texas, and have playlists full of Rhiannon Giddens, Mickey Guyton, Yola, and Brittany Spencer. We know the twin sounds of blues and country and could not be more excited to explore a story that highlights the crosscurrents of these two sounds and cultural institutions in American life.

On Thursday June 20 2024, CBS broadcasts The Talk!

Episode Summary

Here’s what’s coming up on “The Talk” airing on June 20, 2024, on CBS! This episode features the talented actor Gina Rodriguez, known for her dynamic performances and advocacy work in Hollywood. Rodriguez will share insights into her career, upcoming projects, and initiatives close to her heart.

Joining Rodriguez is New York Times best-selling author and podcaster Tembi Locke. Locke will bring her literary expertise and engaging storytelling to the show, discussing her latest works, her podcast, and the themes that resonate in her writing.

Hosted by a vibrant panel, “The Talk” promises an hour of entertainment, thought-provoking discussions, and plenty of laughter. Whether you’re a fan of Rodriguez’s acting prowess or eager to hear Locke’s insights as a storyteller, this episode offers something for everyone.

Don’t miss out! Tune in to CBS on June 20, 2024, for “The Talk...

Exclusive: Malcolm D. Lee’s Blackmaled Productions, is helming a new drama series in development with Peacock titled, Drunk on Love. This latest venture is part of Lee’s first-look deal with Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, and marks a step in amplifying the voices of creatives of color within the industry.

Drunk on Love is based on the New York Times bestselling novel by Jasmine Guillory, of the same name and follows Margot Noble, whose life is turned upside-down when she inherits a struggling vineyard in Napa Valley along with her estranged brother, Elliot. Yanked back to the small town she thought she’d escaped from, Margot meets Luke Williams, whose life has also recently been upended by his mysterious departure from the tech company he founded. When the two of them lock eyes at a late-night tasting room, sparks fly. It’s an encounter that...

Attica and Tembi Locke are re-teaming for another TV series.

The siblings, who already adapted Tembi’s memoir as the Netflix series From Scratch, have signed an overall deal with Universal Television and set up their first project under the pact: an adaptation of Attica’s novel Bluebird, Bluebird.

The drama, which does not yet have a network/platform attached, revolves around Darren Mathews, a Black Texas Ranger who is deeply ambivalent about growing up Black in the lone star state and was the first in his family to get as far away from Texas as he could — until duty called him home.

The Lockes will co-write and exec produce the series alongside Richard Abate, Jermaine Johnson and Will Rowbotham for 3 Arts Entertainment.

“From our first meeting with Universal Television, we felt instant creative alignment,” said Attica and Tembi Locke. “As authors, we understand storytelling across different formats and platforms.

Netflix’s comedy series “Never Have I Ever” boasts a solid cast, but the added guest stars bring extra magic, whether they recur in their roles or only appear in a single cameo. Season 1 saw appearances from Atticus Shaffer (“The Middle”), professional tennis player John McEnroe, Iqbal Theba (“Glee”) as Uncle Aravind and more.

Seasons 2 welcomed Common, Billy Crystal and Tyler Alvarez to Sherman Oaks. Common played a love interest for Devi’s (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) mother Nalini (Poorna Jagannathan), and Billy Crystal helped ask a certain someone to the winter dance. Tyler Alvarez plays a child actor who catches Eleanor’s (Ramona Young) attention. Reese Witherspoon’s son Deacon Philippe, Sarayu Blue and more joined Season 3. Model Gigi Hadid and comedian and actor Andy Samberg narrate Paxton’s (Darren Barnet) and Ben’s (Jaren Lewison) lives, respectively. Actors Michael Cimino, Jeff Garlin and Dwight Howard joined Season 4 in guest roles.

“I could not have known the global conversation that started around aspects of the show that directly deal with family repair and forgiveness and of course, love,” reveals declares author, co-creator and co-writer Tembi Locke about her hit Netflix limited series “From Scratch.” For our recent webchat she adds, “the other piece is around how we say goodbye to our loved ones. I have gotten messages from South America, from Australia, from China, from Russia, from France, from England,” she says, noting that “although that’s something I know we hoped when we were making it, the fact that that is actually connected; that’s incredibly moving to me.” Watch our exclusive video interview above.

See Zoe Saldaña interview: ‘From Scratch’

In “From Scratch,” Zoe Saldaña portrays Amahle “Amy” Wheeler, an American student studying in Italy, who is loosely based on Locke’s personal story as a young woman forging a new path in Italy.

John David Washington (BlacKkKlansman) is set to star opposite Honorary Oscar winner Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction) in The Piano Lesson — a Netflix film adaptation of August Wilson’s classic play, which will mark the feature directorial and screenwriting debut of his brother, Malcolm Washington. Pic’s starry ensemble will also include Ray Fisher (Rebel Moon), Danielle Deadwyler (Till), Michael Potts (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) and Corey Hawkins (The Tragedy of Macbeth).

Set in 1936 Pittsburgh during the aftermath of the Great Depression, The Piano Lesson follows the lives of the Charles family in the Doaker Charles household and an heirloom, the family piano, which is decorated with designs carved by an enslaved ancestor.

Virgil Williams (Mudbound) and Washington adapted the screenplay for the film, to be exec produced by Constanza Romero, Jennifer Roth and Katia Washington, which will mark the latest in a series of stage-to-screen adaptations of Wilson’s...

“Deep, deep down, I knew it was going to be an uphill experience, and I was ready. I was all for it, and it ended up being much harder than I was expecting, but we showed up every day,” admits Zoe Saldana about starring in and co-producing the hit Netflix limited series “From Scratch.” For our recent webchat she adds, “the cast, the LA crew, the Italian crew; we showed up every day, and we gave it 120%. It didn’t matter if it was 16 hour days or 10 hour days. We were in it because we had all been moved by [writer and co-creator] Tembi’s story. But also we all had our personal share of grief, and we were there for ourselves as well, and Tembi gave us that space. That’s the thing about death and grief is it’s not an exclusive walk in life, it is inclusive of everyone and of everything.

The 16th annual Essence Black Women in Hollywood event welcomed a constellation of stars — working both in front of and behind the camera — to the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon. The luncheon honored Danielle Deadwyler (Till), Dominique Thorne (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), Tara Duncan (president of Freeform and Onyx Collective), Gina Prince-Bythewood (The Woman King) and Sheryl Lee Ralph (Abbott Elementary).

Hosted by actor Boris Kodjoe, the event italicized the contributions Black women have made in film and television — particularly this year, but also across eras and generations. Essence magazine’s existence as a platform for Black representation since 1970 found kinship with Hollywood, an industry of images. At the event, many attendees acknowledged how the forward-thinking vision of Essence‘s founders is akin to the work Black creatives in entertainment are doing presently.

Thorne, who began her acceptance speech with a prayer in the form of a letter to God,...

It's been over a decade since James Cameron released "Avatar" in 2009. The fantastical film, known for its innovative digital effects and visual genius, would go on to become the world's top-grossing movie of all time. It starred Sam Worthington as Jake Sully, the paraplegic Marine and hero who gets dispatched on a mission to the moon Pandora, eventually becoming part of the local Na'Vi blue-skinned humanoid tribe. There, he falls in love with Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), the daughter of the leaders of the Omaticaya.

The original "Avatar" was not only the first film to earn more than 2 billion, but it also led the box office for seven consecutive weeks. It has also undeniably played a major role in Saldaña's career success, which includes other hugely successful movie franchises like Star Trek and Guardians of the Galaxy. Thirteen years later, Cameron's sequel, "Avatar: The Way of Water," is scheduled to open in theaters on Dec.

As part of TheWrap’s Power Women Summit 2022 on Dec. 13, panelists Vasquez-Lavado, Lo Bosworth, Tembi Locke and Jessica Knoll discussed their experiences with doubters on their journeys to become published authors as well as adapters, during the “Let’s Get LITerary: Authors Roundtable.”

For Lo Bosworth, whose book “ Love Yourself Well: An Empowering Wellness Guide to Supporting Your Gut, Brain and Vagina,” comes out December 27, the hurdles stemmed from her early childhood career on reality television.

“It’s like Pandora’s box. It’s open and it can never be closed again. And so for me a really long time ago I had to decide ‘okay, Lauren, you know, what is the life that you want to live? How do you want to leave your mark on this earth?’” she said. “When I first started the company, the press that came out was very like ‘wink wink,’ you know, ‘Oh,...

Reese Witherspoon will star in and produce “Election” sequel “Tracy Flick Can’t Win” at Paramount+.

The “Big Little Lies” actress will reprise her role as Tracy Flick in the adaptation based on Perrotta’s latest novel of the same name.

“Tracy Flick Can’t Win” will follow up on the beloved 1999 film that documented a high-stakes student government election as overachieving Tracy goes head-to-head with social studies teacher Jim McAllister, played by Matthew Broderick, who sabotages Tracy’s campaign.

Also Read:

‘Daisy Jones & the Six’ Gets Premiere Date on Prime Video

Published in June 2022, Perrotta’s satirical dark comedy “Tracy Flick Can’t Win” charts Tracy’s life into adulthood as she climbs her way to political power. Perrotta will also serve as executive producer for the adaptation.

“Election” director and co-writer Alexander Payne will return to direct and will write the film adaptation with Jim Taylor.

In collaboration with Hello Sunshine,...

“Daisy Jones & the Six” first-look photos are here via Vanity Fair along with the show’s premiere date: March 3, 2023.

The adaptation from Taylor Jenkins Reid’s wildly popular historical fiction novel of the same name will go to Amazon Prime Video, following the rise and fall of a fictional ’70s band in the guise of Fleetwood Mac. The oral history is told in interviews.

Riley Keough will star as the titular lead singer of the band. Other stars appearing include Sam Claflin as Billy Dunne, Camila Morrone as Billy’s Wife, Suki Waterhouse as Karen, Sebastian Chacon as Warren, Josh Whitehouse as Eddie and Will Harrison as Graham. Timothy Olyphant will portray Rod Reyes, Tom Wright will play Teddy Price and Nabiyah Be will portray Simone Jackson.

Also Read:

‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ Director Olivia Newman Explains That Twist Ending

The timeline will include the band’s start, heyday...

Exclusive: Sony has rounded out its cast for The Equalizer 3, with Eugenio Mastrandrea (From Scratch), Remo Girone (Ford v Ferrari), Sonia Ammar (Scream), Daniele Perrone (Baaria), Andrea Scarduzio (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One) and Andrea Dodero (Blocco 181) signing on for roles.

The actors join an ensemble led by Denzel Washington which also includes Dakota Fanning, and Gaia Scodellaro, as previously announced.

While the film’s plot is being kept under wraps, it’s the third in an action series centered on Washington’s vigilante Robert McCall, from director Antoine Fuqua. The first released in 2014 earned over 194M worldwide, spurring a 2018 sequel that grossed over 190M worldwide.

Slated for release in theaters on September 1, 2023, The Equalizer 3 was written by Richard Wenk. Producers include Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, Washington, Fuqua, Clayton Townsend, Alex Siskin, Steve Tisch, Tony Eldridge and Michael Sloan.

Mastrandrea can currently be seen opposite Zoe Saldana...

The risk of starring in an adaptation of a popular book is a high one — it’s nearly impossible to make every reader happy. With Tembi Locke’s “From Scratch,” a bestseller and one of Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club picks, the risk was even higher. The book was Locke’s own memoir, one about love, loss and family.

When Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine bought the rights and began adapting the story for Netflix’s limited series — one run by Tembi’s sister, Attica Locke — Zoe Saldaña was approached to play the leading role of Amy.

While the Critics Choice nominations have not yet been announced, there is buzz around Saldaña.

“After Reese spoke with me about the book, I, obviously, was very curious and having experienced grief and loss, but from a child’s perspective — I was 9 when I lost a parent and that was very difficult,” says Saldaña.

“It’s been it’s been a lot of things. It’s been an amazing journey; the character and the story and this experience,” declares Italian actor Eugenio Mastrandrea on what starring in the hit Netflix limited series “From Scratch” has meant to him personally. For our recent webchat he adds, “but it’s been tough, I mean the sickness part,” about the unexpected impact that portraying a man dying with cancer has had on him both emotionally and physically. “I was feeling sad, we were in LA,” he recalls, “and [co-star] Lucia [Sardo] came to me and said, ‘honey, you’re a portraying a person that’s dying from cancer. Remember that your mind knows that you’re acting, but your body doesn’t and so your body is reacting is reacting like a cancer patient.’ In my in my body it’s been very difficult portraying him. I ended...

“The Crown” Season 5 has taken the throne on this week’s Netflix Top 10’s English TV chart as the No. 1 show over the Nov. 7-13 viewing window. According to the streamer’s figures, the show’s fifth season was viewed for 107.39 million hours following its premiere on Nov. 9, and is in the Top 10 in 88 countries.

In addition, the show also reached No. 1 in 37 countries including the UK, US, Canada, Australia, Germany, Italy, and France.

Created and written by Peter Morgan, the latest installment of the British drama based on the royal family picked up with a new cast featuring Imelda Staunton, Jonathan Pryce, Elizabeth Debicki, and Dominic West as they covered the tumultuous marriage, infidelities, and divorce between Prince Charles and Princess Diana.

Ahead of its premiere, the series spent several weeks in the Top 10 following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Sept. 8. The first season starring Claire Foy cracked the list at No.

“The Woman King” star Thuso Mbedu will be the keynote speaker for WrapWomen’s 2022 Power Women Summit, the largest annual gathering of women in media and entertainment at the iconic Fairmont Miramar in Santa Monica, California on Wednesday, Dec. 14.

The theme, “A Time to Unite,” will be highlighted throughout the day via panels, stirring dialogues, networking, a luncheon and a cocktail party to close out the day.

Mbedu’s career continues to astonish the world of entertainment. In 2021, she won an Independent Spirit Award, Gotham Award and Hollywood Critics Association Award for her starring role as “Cora” in Barry Jenkins’ “The Underground Railroad,” which her the first South African leading woman of a U.S. television series. Mbedu continues her remarkable run as the co-lead in the historical epic feature “The Woman King,” opposite Viola Davis.

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‘The Woman King’ Director Gina Prince-Bythewood Doesn’t Take No for an Answer

“The Woman King,...

“I hope that people who watch the show take away that being alive is a kind of wondrous thing and don’t lose a second of it,” declares co-creator and showrunner Attica Locke about her hit Netflix limited series “From Scratch.” For our recent webchat she adds, “This experience was quite surreal, but so deeply moving. The fact that it’s so personal is ironically what made the project easier to do and also harder to do, because it was so personal, because I loved so much the people that the story is about. That’s what fueled me to get up every morning to stay up when we had late shoots, and to do all of the hard work and sweat of showrunning this really big show. But it’s also the very thing that made it really hard some days, which meant crying in my trailer,” she reveals.

Click here to read the full article.

Tembi Locke’s bestselling memoir, From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home, chronicles her winding journey through love and loss, upon the death of her husband Rosario “Saro” Gullo after a decade-long cancer battle with leiomyosarcoma in 2012. Locke, a Black actress from Houston, Texas, and Gullo, a chef from Sicily, Italy, met by chance in Florence, and together they found a shared language through food and cultural exchange.

Netflix’s From Scratch, a limited series led by Zoe Saldaña and inspired by Locke’s book, claimed the top spot on the streamer in its first week with 72 million viewing hours. The contours of the show, which was co-created with Locke’s sister and showrunner Attica Locke, first emerged in 2018 when Tembi’s book was in copyedits. Attica was working on Little Fires Everywhere for Hulu as part of Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine production company,...

The Zoe Saldaña-led limited series “From Scratch” was Netflix’s top title between Oct. 24 and Oct. 30, bringing in 72 million hours viewed.

This viewing period marks the romance’s first full week of availability on Netflix; last week, it debuted at No. 3 with 32.2 million hours viewed after three days on the streamer. “From Scratch” is based on the memoir of the same name by Tembi Locke, who co-created the series with her sister, showrunner Attica Locke.

“From Scratch” is the first project to outrank Ryan Murphy’s recent output at Netflix. Between Jeffrey Dahmer drama “Monster” and his limited series “The Watcher,” Murphy spent five weeks at the top of the chart. During the Oct. 24-30 window, “The Watcher” dropped to second place on the English-language TV chart with 67.5 million hours viewed — still an impressive showing for its second full week on Netflix. “Monster,” in its fifth full week, took fifth place with 41 million hours.

“The School for Good and Evil,” adapted from the internationally bestselling book series of the same name by Soman Chainani and directed by Paul Feig, has debuted atop the Netflix Top 10 English film list with 78.83 million hours viewed in its first week on the streamer.

The epic tale, which stars Kerry Washington, Charlize Theron, Laurence Fishburne, Michelle Yeoh and up-and-comers Sophia Anne Caruso and Sofia Wylie, landed on Netflix Oct 19 and enchanted viewers across the globe, landing in the Top 10 in 93 countries.

Behind “The School for Good and Evil” sits “The Curse of Bridge Hollow,” starring “Stranger Things” breakout Priah Ferguson, with 25.34M hours viewed. Mystery-thriller “Luckiest Girl Alive” — adapted from Jessica Knoll’s best-selling novel and starring Mila Kunis, came in third with 19.3M hours viewed. Inspired by real-life events, “The Stranger” had 17.04 million hours viewed. The true-crime drama is a gripping tale that chronicles one of the most notorious crimes in Australian history.

Attica and Tembi Locke are the creative duo, showrunner/writers, executive producers and sisters behind Netflix’s limited series From Scratch, which premiered on the streamer Friday. The project stars Zoe Saldana, Danielle Deadwyler, Keith David, Kellita Smith, Eugenio Mastrandrea and Judith Scott.

The Lockes are the guests on this week’s edition of Deadline’s Scene 2 Seen Podcast.

From Scratch is a cross-cultural love story that follows Amy (played by Saldana), an American student studying abroad in Italy, as she meets and falls in love with Lino, a Sicilian chef. Their whirlwind romance faces many unforeseen challenges, including their very different cultural backgrounds of which Lino’s family is not accepting of Amy’s. But when Lino is faced with unimaginable health challenges and the couple’s future is threatened, the two families come together to create an extended family unlike any they could have imagined, proving that love crosses all borders.

Zoe Saldaña is many things, including the 10th highest-grossing actor of all time, thanks to starring roles in Star Trek, Avatar, and Guardians of the Galaxy. She is a fluent speaker of the Italian language, like her character Amy in the new Netflix weepie From Scratch. She is also, although you may not realise it, 44 years old.

Amy, when we meet her, is in her early-to-mid twenties and has just arrived in Florence. She’s enrolled in an art programme that her overbearing father frets will distract her from finishing a law degree. His fears are well-founded, it turns out. The painterly slant of the Italian light plus the romantic attention of a young Sicilian chef called Lino prove infinitely more interesting than law books.

At first, I was confused when the chyron read “Fall 2000” and Saldaña appeared in a twee matching cami-and-cardigan set. On screen, she calls her sister...

Note: The following contains spoilers for “From Scratch.”

The new Netflix series “From Scratch” tells a fictionalized account of author Tembi Locke’s real life story — one of love, loss, family, food and fighting for all of those things across multiple cultures, races and geographical locations like Los Angeles, California and Sicily, Italy.

Locke’s memoir, published in April of 2019 and selected as that month’s Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club pick, recounts her reality as it unfolded in what her sister and executive producer on the series adaptation Attica Locke describes as “a three act play of healing.” Locke’s late husband Saro, short for Rosario, died of cancer after their fated meeting in Italy when Tembi studied abroad there. In between the news of Saro’s first diagnosis, the recurrent terminal illness and his death, he and Tembi embarked on what the show depicts as “a love story for the ages,...

Some love stories are for the ages. The Netflix adaptation of Tembi Locke's memoir "From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home"  took.us on an emotional rollercoaster from the beginning.

Author Tembi Locke wrote and produced the series with her sister Attica Locke (Little Fires Everywhere), who had pitched her book as a movie idea. With the sisters working together, they tried to keep the essence and the heart of the memoir intact.

Amy Wheeler takes time off from law school to pursue her dream of art in Florence. While she studies there,  Amy meets Sicilian chef Lino. They fall in love as their paths keep crossing.

While Amy (Zoe Saldano) and Lino (Eugenio Masteandrea) had sizzling chemistry, developing them in the series premiere took too much time. We didn't need to devote half an episode to rich boy Giancarlo.

He was no more than a footnote in their adventure.

Zoë Saldana’s news project hit very close to home.

On Friday, Netflix debuted the new series “From Scratch”, based on the memoir by Tembi Locke about being a Black American woman marrying into a Sicilian family who aren’t so accepting.

Read More: Zoe Saldana Says She Was ‘Discouraged’ From Using Her Real Name For ‘Center Stage’

As it happens, Saldana herself is married to an Italian, Marco Perego, which helped her identify that much more with her character.

“The fact that I would laugh out loud to all the things that she, as a woman that is not Italian, marrying a very Italian man, went through; it’s an ongoing thing for me. It’s a saga that never ends, that I love. I’ve learned to embrace a lot of it,” the actress told People in an interview.

“And a lot of it is just perfect and...

As much as I work to be as objective as possible when writing TV criticism, it would be a lie to say that my mood doesn’t affect the way I feel about whatever I’m watching. When I turned on “From Scratch,” a long week had left me feeling more delicate than usual, and all too ready to slip into a warm bath of a show. Netflix’s unabashedly sentimental new limited series is just that — at least at first. What begins as a swoony romance in its first episodes becomes a heartrending story of loss and resilience by its last. Frankly, I never stood a chance.

Based on Tembi Locke’s memoir, and produced by Hello Sunshine after Reese Witherspoon picked it for her wide-reaching book club, “From Scratch” follows the beginning, middle, and end of the relationship between Texan artist Amy (Zoe Saldaña) and Italian chef Lino...

Based on a memoir by Tembi Locke, who developed the miniseries with her sister Attica Locke (“When They See Us”), “From Scratch” is a heartfelt, if sometimes overlong, story of two very different families becoming one through love and loss. Anchored by a strong lead performance from Zoe Saldaña, whose depth keeps the series from becoming a walking live, laugh, love sign.

Continue reading ‘From Scratch’ Review: Zoe Saldaña Discovers The Importance Of Family Under The Florentine Sun at The Playlist.

Click here to read the full article.

Welcome to the 190th episode of TV’s Top 5, The Hollywood Reporter’s TV podcast.

Every week, hosts Lesley Goldberg (West Coast TV editor) and Daniel Fienberg (chief TV critic) break down the latest TV news with context from the business and critical sides, welcome showrunners, executives and other guests, and provide a critical guide of what to watch (or skip, as the case may be).

During this week’s episode, we’re joined by sisters Attica and Tembi Locke to discuss their very personal Netflix limited series From Scratch. Plus we debut a new segment called Season in Review, in which we are joined by special guests to look back at a recently concluded high-profile show.

Here’s how this week’s episode plays out:

1. Headlines

P-Valley, Temuera Morrison and Peacock’s Bel-Air lead the week in headlines.

2. Broadcast updates

CBS...

Click here to read the full article.

As a portrait of a late love, From Scratch is about as fond as they come. Sincere adoration radiates from every scene, enveloping its central couple and their loved ones even in moments of strife or struggle. The Netflix miniseries comes across as the work of someone savoring their dearest memories, which it essentially is — it’s based on the memoir by Tembi Locke, who also created the series with her sister Attica Locke.

If it’s an understandable impulse to want to cast a late love in the rosiest glow possible, though, it leaves From Scratch somewhat less clear-eyed, less complex and ironically less intimate than it could be. The results are still inviting enough, at least if you have a taste for sentimental romance. But to put it in terms its chef male lead, Lino (Eugenio Mastrandrea), might understand, it could...

When executive producer and Academy Award-winning actress Reese Witherspoon was tasked with casting a performer to play Amy Wheeler in “From Scratch,” Netflix’s limited series adaptation of Tembi Locke’s memoir, she looked no further than her dinner table.

Witherspoon was dining across from Zoe Saldaña, who was accompanied by her Italian husband and exchanging bits of dialogue in his native tongue, when she realized the “Avatar” star would be the perfect actor to play Amy.

The show is an epic love story about Amy’s whirlwind romance with a hunky Sicilian chef named Lino (Eugenio Mastrandrea), who she meets while studying abroad in Italy. When Lino is diagnosed with cancer, the couple must reconcile with family and navigate their love in the face of imminent loss.

“I don’t know if there’s a lot of romance in the world right now,” Witherspoon told Variety on Monday at...

Dreamy, heartbreaking, and life-affirming: From Scratch, inspired by Tembi Locke’s memoir about her multicultural relationship with late Sicilian chef husband Saro, is a full meal for anyone hungry for an epic love story. Here’s why you’ll be rapt with the Zoe Saldaña drama, premiering Friday, October 21 on Netflix. 1. The Romance After aspiring American artist Amy (Saldaña) meets Lino (Eugenio Mastrandrea) in Florence and he moves to the States, their commitment to each other — tested by family disapproval and his illness — is moving and sexy. “Marriages get complicated. They also can get richer and hotter,” says Attica Locke, who executive produces with her sister. 2. The Familiarity You’ll feel you truly know these people thanks to details borrowed from real life — like the chef’s affinity for corn dogs! 3. The uplifting message Even in dark times, you can find a light — that’s a truth Amy discovers after Lino’s passing.

Early spooky season began in September, but for those late to the party by starting their celebrations in October, Netflix has a great slate of scary and festive films and TV shows on tap. “Scooby Doo” and “Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed” will be readily available the first day of the month. Friday, October 7 is a big day for releases, as it will welcome the third season of “Derry Girls,” “Luckies Girl Alive” adapted from Jessica Knolle’s best-selling novel and a new YA spin on ghost stories, “The Midnight Club.”

More book adaptations to keep your eye on for October’s Netflix arrivals include “The School for Good and Evil,” out Oct. 19 and based on the best-selling series by Soman Chainani. A heartrending and heartwarming dose of real life as well as true love can be found in the “From Scratch” series, based on the memoir of the same name by Tembi Locke,...

Ghosts is doing a second take on the opening of Jay and Sam’s B&b in a newly released extended trailer for Season 2 of the hit CBS comedy.

Airing Thursday, Sept. 29 at 8:30/7:30c, the premiere finds the husband and wife disagreeing over whether to use their ghostly pals to spy on their guests. Elsewhere in the preview, Thor compares Trevor to Odin (“if Odin’s butt check always visible every time he bend over”); Flower reveals that she slept with a very popular band; Hetty has some strong feelings about the washer; and the basement ghosts get a visitor.

"From Scratch" is a new 8-episode, limited TV series, directed by Nzingha Stewart and Dennie Gordon, based on the memoir best-seller by Tembi Locke, stars Zoe Saldaña, Eugenio Mastrandrea, Danielle Deadwyler, Keith David, Judith Scott, Kellita Smith, Lucia Sardo, Paride Benassai, Roberta Riganored streams October 21, 2022 on Netflix:

"....'Amy Wheeler' (Saldaña) an American student studying abroad in Italy, meets and falls in love with 'Lino', a Sicilian chef. Their whirlwind romance faces unforeseen challenges, including their different cultural backgrounds. 

"But when Lino is suddenly faced with unimaginable health challenges and the couple's future is threatened, the two families come together to create an extended family unlike any they could have imagined, proving that love crosses all borders..." 

Click the images to enlarge...

Does love have the power to transcend family and cultural differences? According to Tembi Locke, it totally does, and “From Scratch,” a new limited series from Netflix, is out to prove that point.

Read More: Netflix Fall Film Calendar: ‘White Noise,’ ‘Bardo,’ & ‘Pale Blue Eye’ With Christian Bale Dated For December

Based on Locke’s memoir of the same name, the eight-episode mini-series stars Zoe Saldaña as an American student abroad in Italy who falls hard for a Sicilian chef.

Continue reading ‘From Scratch’ Trailer: Zoe Saldana Falls In Love Abroad In New October-Set Netflix Mini-Series at The Playlist.

The new Netflix limited series “From Scratch,” starring Zoe Saldaña and Eugenio Mastrandrea, debuted its first trailer Thursday.

Inspired by the New York Times bestselling memoir “From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily and Finding Home” by Tembi Locke, the adaptation’s eight hour-long episodes will premiere on the streamer Oct. 21.

“In Italy we have a saying,” Mastrandrea’s voice glides over the opening sequence of Zoe Saldaña’s character studying abroad in Italy. “In dreams, as in love, all is possible.”

“From Scratch” centers on Amahle ‘Amy’ Wheeler (Saldaña) as she leaves her Texas hometown for college, and then the United States entirely for a semester studying abroad in Italy. Though she is planning to go to law school after undergrad, those plans change when she literally bumps into the handsome Sicilian chef, Lino (Mastrandrea).

In addition to Saldaña and Mastrandrea, the cast includes Danielle Deadwyler, Keith David, Judith Scott,...

We haven’t cried so hard since the This Is Us finale! Inspired by Eureka actress Tembi Locke’s bestselling memoir of her multicultural romance with her late husband, Saro, Netflix’s From Scratch packs years of love and struggle, family drama and reconciliation, grief and healing into eight moving episodes. The limited series, which she executive produces alongside her sister, Attica Locke (Little Fires Everywhere), begins in 2000, when Black Texan Amahle “Amy” Wheeler (Zoe Saldaña) meets Sicilian chef Lino (Eugenio Mastrandrea) while studying art abroad in Florence. “The first time Lino cooks for Amy, you can’t touch that — that is sacrosanct,” Tembi says of the blissful montage recreating her meal (a taste of everything on Saro’s menu) in the premiere. Aaron Epstein/Netflix Lino, who’s estranged from his disapproving, traditional father and therefore the rest of his family, joins Amy in America, where bonding with her dysfunctional clan proves difficult.

The USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, known for its oft-critical reports on Hollywood’s hiring practices and portrayals of underrepresented groups, is launching a “new focus” that will measure the film and TV industry’s depictions of a wide range of political issues, including abortion, gun violence, voting, marriage equality and interracial relationships.

The new approach comes in response to the Supreme Court’s overturning Roe v. Wade and concerns that other long-held rights also might be in danger.

“With the curtailing of reproductive rights, it is not only necessary to find legal solutions to protect marginalized communities, but it is essential to educate and inform audiences about these topics,” said Dr. Stacy L. Smith, founder of the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. “Entertainment has a unique ability to reach viewers and provide that education. Our goal is to illuminate how many opportunities there are to use storytelling as a tool to expand...

The Wilds vet Sarah Pidgeon has set her sights on a new role following the Prime Video drama’s cancellation last month.

The actress will play the younger version of Kathryn Hahn’s character in the Hulu series Tiny Beautiful Things, from creator/writer Liz Tigelaar (Little Fires Everywhere), our sister site Deadline reports.

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Based on Cheryl Strayed’s bestselling book,...

ABC has given a script commitment with penalty to No Good Deed, a drama from writer Jeannine Renshaw, Nzingha Stewart (From Scratch), Justin Hartley (This Is Us) and his ChangeUp Productions and 20th Television, where Hartley is under a pod deal.

Written by Renshaw and directed by Stewart, No Good Deed follows a warm-hearted botany professor with a dark secret who welcomes a troubled student into her home, only the seeming victim turns out to be a deadly parasite who uses her wiles and charms on vulnerable friends and family, unearthing secrets in this small mountain town, and destroying lives in order to cement her own twisted bond with her professor.

Renshaw and Stewart executive produce with Hartley via his ChangeUp Productions. ChangeUp Head of Development Julianna Larosa serves as producer. 20th Television is the studio.

Renshaw most recently served as co-executive producer on Manifest,...

Striving to overcome their painful, turbulent past in an effort to protect their future physical and mental health can be a harrowing journey to embark on for many people. But actress Kelli Joan Bennett’s character is finally mustering the courage to listen to the people who care about her to do just that in the […]

The post Kelli Joan Bennett Seeks Life-Saving Help From Tembi Locke in Collusions Exclusive Clip appeared first on Shockya.com.

Boomerang Productions Media crime mystery to open on August 20.

High Octane Pictures has acquired international rights to Boomerang Productions Media’s crime mystery Collusions ahead of the film’s day-and-date US release this week.

Tom Everett Scott from That Thing You Do stars in the Los Angeles-set story about the intertwined fates of five people and the case of a woman and her missing tooth. Anthony Vietro directed from a screenplay by Monica Zepeda.

Vertical Entertainment will release the film in the US theatrically and on VoD on August 20.

Tembi Locke, Steven Culp, Jamison Jones, Brynn Thayer and Kelli Joan Bennett...

"Any other question, detective?" "What really happened?" Vertical Entertainment has debuted a new trailer for an indie "cerebral, character driven crime mystery" film titled Collusions, made by cinematographer / filmmaker Anthony Vietro. This originally premiered at a festival in 2018 and is only now getting a release in the US. Collusions follows five people intertwined in the legal and law enforcement world of Los Angeles as the story of a beaten woman, her missing tooth and their motives are revealed. Starring Tom Everett Scott, Steven Culp, Jamison Jones, Tembi Locke, Brynn Thayer, plus Kelli Joan Bennett, who was also a producer on the film. There's not much to see here in this dready LA drama about boring people. Here's the official trailer (+ official poster) for Anthony Vietro's Collusions, direct from YouTube: Collusions is a crime mystery that follows five people intertwined in the legal and law enforcement world of Los Angeles...

Exclusive: Chris Gray (The Society) is set to play young Ray in Showtime’s follow-up feature-length movie Ray Donovan. The film picks up where Season 7 of the popular series left off following its surprise cancellation last year, with Mickey (Jon Voight) in the wind and Ray (Liev Schreiber) determined to find and stop him before he can cause any more carnage. Gray plays the younger version of Schreiber’s Ray Donovan. Like his older self, he is a physically imposing young man who can convey much with only a few words and is decisive and calm in times of crisis. The film is executive produced by Hollander, Schreiber, Mark Gordon, Bryan Zuriff and Lou Fusaro. Gray was recently seen in a recurring role in The Society and in the feature Almost Love. He’s repped by Sweet 180 and Cesd.

Saad Siddiqui (Seal Team) has been tapped for a recurring role...

Exclusive: Netflix has rounded out the cast for From Scratch with the addition of Terrell Carter (Empire), Medalion Rahimi (NCIS: Los Angeles), Jonathan Del Arco (Star Trek: Picard), Peter Mendoza (Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles), Lorenzo Pozzan (Catch-22) and Jonathan D. King (Kidding).

The crew of actors, who will recur in the project form Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine and Zoe Saldana’s Cinestar banners, join previously announced cast members Saldana, Eugenio Mastrandrea, Danielle Deadwyler, Keith David, Kellita Smith, Judith Scott, Lucia Sardo, Paride Benassai and Roberta Rigano.

Giacomo Gianniotti (Grey’s Anatomy), Elizabeth Anweis (Batwoman), Kassandra Clementi (Breach) and Rodney Gardiner (David Makes Man) will guest star throughout the limited series based on Tembi Locke’s 2019 bestselling memoir.

Adapted by Locke’s sister Attica Locke, who serves as showrunner, From Scratch is the story of an African American woman who falls in love with a Sicilian chef while studying...

Exclusive: Eugenio Mastrandrea has been tapped as the male lead opposite Zoe Saldana in Netflix’s limited series From Scratch, based on Tembi Locke’s bestselling memoir. Danielle Deadwyler, Keith David, Kellita Smith, Judith Scott, Lucia Sardo, Paride Benassai and Roberta Rigano (I Know This Much Is True) also have been cast in the project, from Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine banner.

Adapted for TV by Locke’s sister, Attica Locke, From Scratch is the story of an African American woman who falls in love with a Sicilian chef (Mastrandrea) while studying abroad in Florence and goes on to build a life with him in Los Angeles, merging two seemingly opposite cultures.

Tembi Locke,...

Exclusive: Emmy-nominated writer, producer and director Nzingha Stewart is set to direct five episodes, including the pilot episode, of Netflix limited series From Scratch, starring and executive produced by Zoe Saldana. Based on Tembi Locke’s best-selling memoir, the series is from Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine banner and 3 Arts Entertainment. Stewart will also serve as producing director. Production begins this spring.

From Scratch is a sweeping, autobiographical romance that follows an American woman as she falls in love with a Sicilian man while studying abroad in Italy then builds a life with him in the United States. When she unexpectedly loses him to illness, she is challenged to pull herself through grief so she can raise their daughter as they would have raised her together: with hope, joy, and infinite love.

Locke’s sister Attica Locke, will serve...