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When Natasha Rothwell set out to create her first TV series, she had no idea the corner she was writing herself into by setting it at JFK. As it turns out, there’s a reason you don’t see any workplace comedies about airports. “Standards and practices sanitized so many logos that I was wondering, ‘Is this going to look like JFK?’ ” she says. “When Hudson News finally agreed to let us show their sign, it was really such a get.”

The red tape for something as simple as using a newsstand storefront is one of many unexpected hurdles in making How to Die Alone, Rothwell’s starring vehicle that premieres Sept. 13 on Hulu — seven years after she initially developed it at HBO. Though she’s written for Saturday Night Live and Insecure, on which her colorful script readings inspired showrunners Issa Rae and Prentice Penny to cast her in...

It’s rare for the right project to come to the right person at the right time, but in the case of “Pachinko,” that’s exactly what happened. Long before Blue Marble Pictures and Blue Marble Management’s founder and CEO Theresa Kang ever picked up Min Jin Lee’s novel, she was poised to help bring this particular story to the screen.

When Kang encountered the 2017 book, she was still working as an agent for WME. “A lot of books get discussed at agencies,” she told TheWrap. “But I remember when I heard about this one, I was like, ‘Wait a minute, Zainichi Koreans in Japan?'”

A saga that tells the story of one family over generations, “Pachinko” revolves around a Korean family who immigrated to Japan before World War II and how they grapple with their identities in a country that’s ceaselessly hostile to them. While...

For over a decade, Black Twitter served as a cultural hub and megaphone for the community. People gathered to joke and organize, find solidarity, and drive change. But with Twitter’s decline, this important online haven has faced erasure. Enter director Prentice Penny’s three-part documentary for Hulu. Black Twitter: A People’s History sets out to document this digital movement before its potential loss, capturing both its lighter and heavier moments.

Penny guides viewers through Black Twitter’s rise and evolution. We hear from journalists, comedians, and scholars about those early years. When hashtags like #UKnowUrBlackWhen took off and users flocked in bigger numbers than other sites. How it became a space to openly discuss pop culture and politics within the community. Figures like April Reign explain how platforms like Twitter enabled new forms of activism around issues like #OscarsSoWhite.

Woven throughout is necessary context on the offline realities that shaped experiences online.

Exclusive: Onyx is not proceeding with Not Cops, a pilot from former Insecure showrunner Prentice Penny who is under an overall deal at the Disney collective. There is conflicting information over the reasons for the decision, which came days before filming was slated to begin in Atlanta, but timing seems to be a main issue.

Not unlike other projects on the Onyx slate, the half-hour pilot has a provocative premise — it revolves around residents of the Los Angeles neighborhood of Leimert Park who take charge of the safety in their community after defunding the police.

Quietly picked up to pilot about two months ago, Not Cops has not been officially announced, which is not atypical for pilots which are sometimes confirmed when fully cast and starting production.

No one would comment but according to sources, Not Cops was in the middle of casting when the plug was pulled this week,...

Hello, and welcome to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast!

I am your host Valerie Complex, an associate editor and film writer at Deadline. Today, I’m chatting with Prentice Penny, an Emmy nominated, Peabody, and Golden Globe winning writer-director-producer who has brought his unique voice and sensibilities to some of today’s most beloved film and TV projects.

Penny and his multi-media production company, A Penny For Your Thoughts Entertainment, have dedicated creative efforts towards telling stories that offer fresh perspectives and explore beyond the beaten path to challenge the way we think about our culture and one another.

His upcoming projects include Black Twitter: A People’s History, which he directed and produced. Based on Jason Parham’s Wired article A People’s History of Black Twitter, this three-part docuseries charts the rise, the movements, the voices, and the memes that made Black Twitter an influential and dominant force in nearly...

Elon Musk’s positions on race and racism can be viewed as problematic, to say the least — much like his ownership of Twitter/X, one of the foremost means of modern communication. He has used the social media platform he bought in October 2022 to attack diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. And last year he tweeted (X’d?) to his millions of followers, accusing “elite” high schools and universities of being racist against white and Asian people.

The South African-born entrepreneur has gone further than that. Fortune magazine says he has promoted the far-right “Replacement Theory” – the very embodiment of white entitlement and fragility. On June 6, NBC News reported, “Elon Musk’s social media app X has been placing advertisements in the search results for at least 20 hashtags used to promote racist and antisemitic extremism, including #whitepower, according to a review of the platform.” Mother Jones published an article in March that said,...

After decades of honoring the best in independent film, the Gotham Awards have formally branched out into television. In recent years the Gothams have included a handful of TV awards alongside their film races, but 2024 marks the first time the Gothams have dedicated an awards show specifically to television. Held on June 4 at 7:00pm Eastern in New York City, the awards celebrated the best new comedies, dramas, limited series and nonfiction programs of the season. So how did the inaugural event go? Who were the big winners? And what were the biggest surprises at these juried awards? The complete list of winners is below, updated throughout the night.

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Breakthrough Comedy Series

“Bodkin”

Jez Scharf, creator; Tonia Davis, Nne Ebong, David Flynn, Paul Lee, Alex Metcalf, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Jez Scharf, executive producers; (Netflix)

X — “Colin from Accounts”

Patrick Brammall,...

For decades, the Gotham Awards have honored the best in independent film as decided by select committees of industry insiders, festival programmers, and media experts. In recent years they have expanded into TV, but in 2024, for the first time, they are holding a separate awards show dedicated to the best new television programs of the year. Scroll down for the complete list of inaugural nominees. Winners will be presented on Tuesday, June 4, in New York City.

Jeffrey Sharp, The Gotham’s Executive Director, said in a statement, “In a historic moment for The Gotham, we’re thrilled to recognize an extraordinary collection of TV series and the brilliant creators responsible for bringing them to the screen. As an organization dedicated to celebrating and nurturing independent media, we know the inaugural 2024 Gotham TV Awards will honor many truly deserving creatives while widening our reach and expanding our impact. We are enormously...

The Gotham Film & Media Institute announced today the nominations in seven competitive award categories for its inaugural Gotham TV Awards, recognizing a range of series, including Baby Reindeer, Ripley, The Curse, Shōgun, Bodkin, Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Black Twitter: A People’s History as well as performances from Emma Stone and Nathan Fielder in The Curse, Andrew Scott in Ripley, Kristen Wiig in Palm Royale, Richard Gadd in Baby Reindeer, and Lily Gladstone in Under The Bridge, among others. The awards ceremony is set for June 4 in NYC.

“In a historic moment for The Gotham, we’re thrilled to recognize an extraordinary collection of TV series and the brilliant creators responsible for bringing them to the screen,” said Jeffrey Sharp, The Gotham’s Executive Director.

The longstanding Gotham Awards is focused on film but includes three television categories. From here on, they will migrate to the new event.

The Gotham Film & Media Institute has announced its nominees in seven categories for the inaugural Gotham TV Awards.

Baby Reindeer, Ripley, The Curse, Shōgun, Bodkin, Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Black Twitter: A People’s History are among the nominees, with Emma Stone and Nathan Fielder (The Curse), Andrew Scott (Ripley), Kristen Wiig (Palm Royale), Richard Gadd (Baby Reindeer) and Lily Gladstone (Under the Bridge) receiving nods in the acting categories.

“In a historic moment for The Gotham, we’re thrilled to recognize an extraordinary collection of TV series and the brilliant creators responsible for bringing them to the screen,” said Jeffrey Sharp, the Gotham’s executive director. “As an organization dedicated to celebrating and nurturing independent media, we know the inaugural 2024 Gotham TV Awards will honor many truly deserving creatives while widening our reach and expanding our impact. We are enormously proud to celebrate the remarkable talent represented in today’s nominations.

When April Reign became part of the loose community of Black users recognized as Black Twitter in 2010, her feed flooded with unfiltered opinions, jaw-dropping confessions, and countless jokes. Early on, she stumbled into #TwitterAfterDark, which littered her timeline with sexual innuendos. A few years later, she followed the “Meet Me In Temecula” saga, where two men hilariously feuded over Kobe Bryant, eventually challenging one another to a fight. As Reign spent late nights scrolling through mood-setting memes, innovative hashtags, and trenchant 140-character commentaries, hanging out on Black Twitter started to...

When Jason Parham found out that “Insecure” executive producer Prentice Penny was on board to adapt his “Wired” article about Black Twitter, he had a pinch-me moment. “Is this a joke?” Parham recalled thinking, laughing at a table along with Penny ahead of the “Black Twitter: A People’s History” premiere at SXSW in March.

“Being a writer is very solitary process,” Parham said, comparing it to a television writers room or production team. He was nervous at first — he serves as executive producer on he series — but describes working with Penny as “pure collaboration from the very beginning.”

“We just vibed,” said showrunner Joie Jacoby.

“I just finished ‘Insecure’ and I really wanted a break from doing scripted television,” Penny said. “I didn’t want the next thing I did to be compared to that … I wanted a fresh creative challenge.”

Penny was fresh off ‘Insecure” and wanted to try something new,...

Thank You, Next is a Turkish romantic comedy-drama series created by Ece Yörenç. The Netflix series follows the story of a successful young lawyer Leyla Taylan as she finds out that her first love has been cheating on her. Through the help of her best friend, she jumps back into the modern dating scene and faces all the complexities that it brings with it. Thank You, Next stars Serenay Sarıkaya in the lead role with Metin Akdülger, Hakan Kurtaş, Boran Kuzum, Ahmet Rıfat Şungar, Meriç Aral, and Bade İşçil starring in supporting roles. If you loved the fun romantic vibes of Thank You, Next here are some similar shows you could check out next.

Girls (Max & Prime Video Add-On) Credit – HBO

Girls is a comedy-drama series created by Lena Dunham. The HBO series follows the story of four young women as they try to follow their passions in New York after finishing college.

According to director Prentice Penny, “Black Twitter: A People’s History” is something of a coming-of-age story.

Chronicling a decade and a half of posts and news stories, the Hulu docuseries examines how culture and politics have been influenced by Black users of the social media site now known as X — a relationship that has evolved and matured over time thanks to changes in technology, the White House, the site’s ownership and more.

“The big reference is ‘Star Wars,'” Penny says. “Luke in the beginning doesn’t know what the Jedis are. He’s doe-eyed. Then you have ‘Empire,’ where it gets darker. Trouble is happening. Then you have a final act of coming into your power and accepting it. For me, that was the story of Black Twitter. In the beginning, it’s like, ‘What even is this thing? — and then you’re hit with real world things,...

When “A People’s History of Black Twitter” was published in 2021, the social media platform appeared powerful as ever. As it had been for over a decade, the site was a hub of community and influence, where users might go to bullshit with friends, to organize with activists, to read and report news in real time, maybe even to mingle with a celebrity or two. Sure, it had its problems with trolls or bots or poor moderation; sure, TikTok was already moving in fast. But Twitter seemed to be, if not thriving, at least chugging along with no obvious end in sight.

A lot can change in three years, however — and a lot has, particularly since Elon Musk’s acquisition of the site in 2022. Onyx Collective’s Black Twitter: A People’s History reiterates and expands on Jason Parham’s Wired article, braiding together interviews with journalists, comedians and other commentators...

Black Twitter was never a URL or an app. It was a destination that didn’t require a passport, a hopping party without a cover charge. This thriving online community influenced and dominated American culture and politics for more than a decade, and when it suddenly ended, it felt like waking from a dream.

Black Twitter: A People's History, a three-part docuseries premiering May 9 on Hulu, is based on Jason Parham’s Wired cover story “A People’s History of Black Twitter,” and director Prentice Penny does more than simply transfer Parham’s impressive work to the screen. Penny’s series is a vibrant, colorful celebration of the Black Twitter phenomenon that simultaneously maintains a funereal atmosphere as Black Twitter is laid to rest, but true to Black culture, Penny treats this significant loss as an opportunity to unite and rejoice. The series is Black Twitter’s homecoming.

What’s the best destination for spring TV? IndieWire doesn’t have a definitive answer, but as we do every month we’ll help you weigh the options with a breakdown of everything coming to your favorite streaming platforms in May.

The month is a prime time to have Disney+, what with the ongoing and buzzy success of “X-Men 97” and upcoming “Marvel Studios’ Assembled” going behind the scenes of the reboot series. May is of course the month of Star Wars, and the House of Mouse will celebrate with “Star Wars: Tales of the Empire” on May 4. Disney is also home to BBC America’s “Doctor Who,” which returns for a highly-anticipated 14th season with Ncuti Gatwa stepping into the Tardis as the new Doctor (he stepped into the role in December 2023 as part of the series’ beloved Christmas special tradition).

Meanwhile, Hulu will continue airing episodes of FX’s...

The USC School of Cinematic Arts has announced that Miky Lee will deliver the 20024 Commencement address.

James Gray, director, writer, and Sca alumnus, will receive the Mary Pickford Alumni Award at the graduation ceremony at the Shrine Auditorium on Friday, May 10, 2024.

“Miky Lee is a true pioneer and ambassador of collaborative global filmmaking, and we are so happy to have her share her insight and expertise with our graduating students,” Elizabeth M. Daley, Dean of the USC School of Cinematic Arts, said in a statement. “Miky works across borders, cultures, and genres, and champions the kinds of projects our students aspire to creating. We are so pleased she agreed to be this year’s graduation speaker.”

Sca alumnus Jon M. Chu, who graduated in 2003 with a Bfa in film & television production, will speak at this year’s main, university-wide commencement ceremony at 8:30 a.m. at Alumni Park.

As Commencement Speaker,...

Exclusive: First Lady Jill Biden will be the featured speaker at Monday’s A Day Of Unreasonable Conversation, a social impact event featuring entertainment industry figures and activists.

Biden will take part in a conversation with Halle Berry to talk about the first-ever White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research. Their talk, titled “Writing New Stories About Women’s Health,” will delve into how cultural figures and content can advance conversation’s about the topic.

The first lady is heading to Southern California today for a round of fundraising and an appearance this weekend at the Los Angeles Human Rights Campaign dinner.

Others taking part in the Getty Center event include Paris Hilton, Yvette Nicole Brown, Christine Blasey Ford, Amy Spitalnick and Sitarah Pendleton-Eaglin. The lineup includes Jane Fonda, Cord Jefferson, Yusef Salaam, Charli d’Amelio, Dorian Warren, Maurice Mitchell, Sinead Bovell, Angela Patton, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford,...

Many documentary filmmakers want their work on the big screen and not small. So, what gives? Why isn’t that happening?

One could argue that we haven’t seen a doc boom in cinemas since 2018 which served up such breakouts as Won’t You Be My Neighbor ($22.8M), Three Identical Strangers ($12.3M) and Rbg ($14M). The pandemic is partially to blame as audiences have savored non-fiction stories on streaming, i.e. the Netflix series, Tiger King.

“It’s not that it doesn’t work theatrically,” explained Lionsgate EVP Acquisitions and Co-Productions, Charlotte Koh who was part of the SXSW session “How to Tell True Stories: Narrative vs. Documentary”.

“It’s becoming more competitive to get people’s attention because there is so much documentary product out there that can be watched through streamers and other ways,” Koh added.

Also on the panel moderated by Variety documentary journalist Addie Morfoot were Bryn Mooser,...

If you think about it, there’s no better place to premiere “Black Twitter: A People’s History” than at South by Southwest.

The three-part Hulu and Onyx docuseries based on Jason Parham’s similarly titled “Wired” story exists at the perfect intersection of entertainment, internet, and culture — just like SXSW itself.

“When I read the article, it was not only was only something that I love, that I participated in, but I saw the power of it,” director Prentice Penny told IndieWire during the conference. “It was sort of feeling like the way my mother talks about the Civil Rights Movement. That’s what I felt like was happening on Black Twitter.”

Along with being an active platform-formerly-known-as-Twitter user, Penny (whose profile welcomes users with the subhed “Fux Yo Blue Check”) was itching to do something different after “Insecure” — something that scared him.

“When Sarah Amos and the team at...

Prentice Penny had just wrapped the fifth and final season of Issa Rae’s Insecure and was awaiting its release on HBO when Wired senior writer Jason Parham published his definitive “A People’s History of Black Twitter” in July 2021. The three-part, 9,821-word series chronicles the evolution of the nebulous and influential collective of Black users on the platform now known as X, from an inciting event (the hashtag #UKnowUrBlackWhen) to its growing influence and respective backlash through the present.

For Penny, a multihyphenate talent whose work on such series as Insecure and Girlfriends had been elevated and celebrated by Black Twitter, adapting Parham’s articles into a colorful visual history through the documentary medium seemed like an exciting new challenge after spending much of his two decades in TV predominantly in the narrative comedy space with shows including Scrubs, Happy Endings and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

The result is Hulu’s...

The 2024 SXSW Film & TV Festival — which runs March 8–16 in Austin, Texas — has cooked up an eclectic spread of studio crowd-pleasers, enterprising TV premieres, and indie gems aiming to break through. Here is some of the most promising fare.

Babes

The canon of Ilana Glazer-led indies about childbearing expands. Following 2021’s “False Positive,” Glazer plays pregnant once again in “Babes,” this time from a film script she wrote with Josh Rabinowitz in Pamela Adlon’s feature directorial debut. The Neon comedy follows Eden (Glazer), who gets pregnant from a one-night stand and seeks help from Dawn (Michelle Buteau), a married mother of two. In other words, “Babes” lets the “Broad City” star do what she does best: lean heavily on the support of a best buddy.

Black Twitter: A People’s History

Come to “Black Twitter: A People’s History” for a who’s who of the funniest moments Black...

Los Angeles will be engaging in A Day of Unreasonable Conversation for a fourth straight year, via a lineup packed with both stars and top political figures.

A Day of Unreasonable Conversation, put on by social impact agency Propper Daley, seeks to bring together people with different life experiences and viewpoints to share their stories with TV industry leaders, who hold the power to shape global conversations through their projects.

Kerry Washington, Jane Fonda, Kesha, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, American Fiction writer Cord Jefferson, WGA board member Adam Conover and Insecure showrunner Prentice Penny will take part in the event, held this year at the Getty Center on March 25. This year’s iteration will also be co-chaired by Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Washington’s production company Simpson Street, with The Hollywood Reporter returning as media partner.

“We have all seen the power that stories have to...

Onyx Collective has signed The House of Flowers creator Manolo Caro to a multiyear first-look deal with writer, director and producer Manolo Caro and Woo Films’ co-founders Rafael Ley and Maria Jose Cordova, it was revealed during the collective’s TCA presentation on Friday. Under the deal, Caro, Ley and Cordova will develop new projects for Onyx Collective.

“Manolo Caro is in a rare class of storytellers who blend heart and humor to reveal the essence of what makes us all human,” said Tara Duncan, president, Onyx Collective. “He is a proven hitmaker, and we’re excited to bring his universal stories to the Hulu audience.”

“Joining the creative voices at Onyx is not only a commitment to my artistic mission but a critical reflection of my own identity,” says Caro. “I want to tell stories through my particular vision and pop lens and create content that allows me to...

Sheryl Lee Ralph fronts Disney Entertainment Television’s new Black History Month campaign.

Variety has the exclusive first look at the launch of the Giving Flowers initiative, a video spot featuring Ralph, Chandra Wilson, Glynn Turman, Emayatzy Corinealdi and Prentice Penny.

“Flowers never truly die,” Ralph says in the video. “They are as strong as the stories we tell. You may clip them but they will grow again. We are forever in bloom.”

The tag at the end of the video reads, “Celebrate Black Stories.” An expanded 30-second spot will debut later this month.

The campaign is intended to highlight Disney’s Black History Month television programming, which includes “Abbott Elementary” Season 3, premiering Feb. 7 on ABC and streaming the next day on Hulu. The two-episode premiere of the Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X series, “Genius: MLK/X,” takes place on National Geographic on Feb. 1 along with a special simulcast on ABC.

The SXSW Film & TV Festival said Wednesday that Universal’s The Fall Guy starring Ryan Gosling will serve as the 2024 edition’s Centerpiece film, and Netflix’s 3 Body Problem from David Benioff, D. B. Weiss and Alexander Woo will open the fest’s opening-night TV premiere.

The news comes as the festival, whose 31st edition runs March 8-16 in Austin, unveiled first titles in its Feature and Short Competitions, Midnighters, Global and Xr Experience categories. See the list below, which includes berths for the world premiere of Pamela Adlon’s Babes, the Daisy Ridley-starring Magpie, Prentice Penny’s docuseries Black Twitter, Season 3 of Hacks and the final season of Star Trek: Discovery.

Organizers said today that more titles, including the opening- and closing-night films, will be announced early next month across Headliner, Narrative Feature Competition, Documentary Feature Competition, Narrative Spotlight, Documentary Spotlight, Visions, Midnighter, Global, 24 Beats Per Second,...

Hollywood is mourning Andre Braugher, the Emmy-winning actor known for “Homicide: Life on the Street,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and more, who died on Monday at age 61.

“Can’t believe you’re gone so soon,” wrote Terry Crews, who played Terry Jeffords in “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” on Instagram. “I’m honored to have known you, laughed with you, worked with you and shared 8 glorious years watching your irreplaceable talent. This hurts. You left us too soon. You taught me so much. I will be forever grateful for the experience of knowing you. Thank you for your wisdom, your advice, your kindness and your friendship. Deepest condolences to your wife and family in this difficult time. You showed me what a life well lived looks like.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Terry Crews (@terrycrews)

“I will remember all the advice you gave me,” posted Melissa Fumero, who starred in “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” as Amy Santiago.

Disney Entertainment recently hosted a holiday get-together for creators, showrunners and creative executives under overall deals with a toast to the New Year ahead.

Dana Walden, co-chairman of Disney Entertainment joined executives across the studios and platforms including Eric Schrier (DTS), Karey Burke (20th TV), Tracy Underwood (ABC Signature), John Landgraf (FX/Fxp), Marci Proietto (20th TV Animation), Tara Duncan (Onyx Collective) as well as Joe Early (Det), Charlie Andrews (Dbt), Craig Erwich, Nick Grad and Gina Balian (FX).

Guests included Liz Meriwether, Steve Levitan, Matt Groening, Loren Bouchard, Zoanne Clack, Alec Berg, Raamla Mohamed, Noah Hawley, Nick Kroll, Milo Ventimiglia, Nina Jacobson,  Yvette Lee Bowser, Destin Daniel Cretton, Kelvin Yu, Jenni Konner, Liz Tigelaar, Prentice Penny, Warren Littlefield, Saladin Patterson and many more.

See the photo gallery below.

Reconnecting with creators, showrunners and creative executives under overall deals,  Disney Television Studios, Onyx Collective, Fxp celebrated being...

Exclusive: Blue Bayou filmmaker Justin Chon has signed with WME and Blue Marble Management for representation.

Chon recently directed and executive produced the new Apple TV+ series Chief of War, starring Jason Momoa and produced by Chernin and Fifth Season. The series will premiere in 2024 on Apple TV+.

He also wrote, directed, and starred in the 2021 film Blue Bayou, which sold competitively to Focus Features and premiered at Cannes as part of the Un Certain Regard selection. In the film, Justin stars opposite Oscar winner Alicia Vikander. His fourth feature film, Jamojaya, which he wrote and directed, premiered at Sundance in 2023. Ms. Purple, which he wrote, directed and produced, premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. His feature, Gook, premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Next Audience Award.

Chon also executive produced and directed episodes of Apple TV+’s Peabody Award winning Season 1 of Pachinko.

Chon began...

HBO’s Insecure is now streaming on Netflix, marking the first time an HBO original series is available on a rival streaming platform in the U.S.

All five seasons of the Issa Rae-fronted series, which aired its series finale in 2021, landed on the rival platform on Monday, confirming reports that the show could be among the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned titles added to Netflix.

The streamer is also set to add Band of Brothers, The Pacific, Six Feet Under and Ballers as part of a co-exclusive deal with Wbd’s Max, which closed late last week. Additionally, HBO series True Blood will be added to Netflix outside the U.S.

HBO has rarely licensed its original shows beyond its own corporate siblings, with Sex and the City sold in syndication (with significant edits) to TBS and later other basic cable networks. And when Richard Plepler was CEO, HBO licensed series like The Sopranos,...

ABC’s ratings-challenged Happy Endings created a cult following thanks to its relatable stories about a group of friends in their late 20s and early 30s. While the comedy helped to launch the careers of stars Eliza Coupe (Jane), Elisha Cuthbert (Alex), Zachary Knighton (Dave), Adam Pally (Max), Damon Wayans Jr. (Brad) and Casey Wilson (Penny), behind the scenes, the Sony-produced series created by David Caspe was effectively its own showrunner training program. As Rutherford Falls creator Sierra Teller Ornelas revealed in a recent Twitter thread, Happy Endings had 23 writers over its three seasons, with an incredible 21 — including assistants — becoming showrunners.

During this week’s TV’s Top 5 podcast, hosts Lesley Goldberg and Daniel Fienberg reunite 14 of the Happy Endings writers to build off Ornelas’ thread and discuss, in light of the ongoing Writers Guild strike, the benefits of having a traditional writers rooms, why having writers on set...

Exclusive: Sugar23 has signed Emmy-nominated actor Mamoudou Athie.

Athie recently wrapped Yorgos Lanthimos’s new film And for Searchlight Pictures alongside Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau, and Joe Alwyn, as well as Maggie Betts’ The Burial for Amazon Studios alongside Jamie Foxx and Tommy Lee Jones. This summer, he also voices the co-lead of Pixar’s animated feature Elemental, in theaters this June.

Best known for roles in Jason Reitman’s The Front Runner and Sorry For Your Loss, Athie was most recently seen alongside Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard in Universal Pictures’ and Colin Trevorrow’s Jurassic World: Dominion, which brought in a billion at the global box-office.

He also starred as the lead in the James Wan produced Netflix series Archive 81, which garnered great critical reception and premiered #1 on Netflix.

Athie was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Actor in A...

Pause with Sam Jay will not be returning for a third season. HBO has cancelled the late-night comedy series according to host Sam Jay in a recent interview with The Daily Beast. Season two of the series arrived in May 2022.

Created by Jay and Prentice Penny, the series features Jay hosting a party at her apartment. She and her guests explore current topics -- conversations that are further expanded upon in interviews, sketches, and animation

Read More…...

The lineup for the big game is set: The Kansas City Chiefs will play the Philadelphia Eagles at Super Bowl Lvii on Feb. 12, bringing to Fox Sports a game that should be a particularly strong draw in NFL strongholds in the Midwest and Northeast.

The Chiefs won a hard-fought 23-20 battle with the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday afternoon to secure the AFC Championship and their half of the Super Bowl slot. Earlier in the day, the Eagles cruised to a 31-7 victory over the San Francisco 49ers to clinch the NFC Championship. The Eagles are making their second Super Bowl visit since 2018, when the team won for the first time in franchise history.

Kansas City is heading to the championship game for the third time in four years. The Chiefs won the Super Bowl in 2020, beating the 49ers, and lost in 2021 to Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The team’s quarterback,...

Onyx Collective came armed with news during its presentation Saturday at the Sundance Film Festival.

Disney’s Tara Duncan-led quasi studio has put a Queen of Sheba scripted drama series in development. Onyx, which produces content exclusively for Hulu, has also nabbed two documentaries out of the snowy fest: Questlove’s untitled Sly Stone feature and Ryan Coogler’s Anthem.

Sheba, which is also exec produced by Coogler, is co-created by Chantelle Wells (Showtime’s Yellowjackets) and actress-writer-producer Azie Tesfai (Supergirl). The drama explores the rise to power of the first queen on the continent of Africa as she seeks to unite the nation now known as Ethiopia, making it one of the richest, most formidable kingdoms in the world. Inspired by true events, the potential series follows Makeda into a world of danger, deceit and political intrigue as she is forced to step into a role that no one,...

Next month, “South Park” returns to its broadcasting home and long-running time slot, airing on Comedy Central on Wednesday nights. The animated series’ 26th season is set to premiere Feb. 8 at 10 p.m.

“South Park” fans won’t have to worry about the fate of Stan, Eric, Kyle and Kenny until 2028 as co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone signed an expansive deal with MTV Entertainment Studios, taking the series through an unprecedented 30th Season. This deal also includes 14 “South Park” original made-for-streaming events exclusively on Paramount+, including “South Park: The Streaming Wars” Parts 1 and 2, “South Park: Post Covid” and “South Park: Post Covid: The Return of Covid”.

After the Season 26 premiere, all new episodes will be available to stream in HD on SouthPark.cc.com, Cc.com and the Comedy Central App.

Watch the teaser for “South Park’s” 26th Season below.

Programming

Just over a year since its final episode,...

Updated: HBO’s Emmy Award-winning comedy Insecure, starring series’ co-creator Issa Rae and Yvonne Orji, will begin airing two back-to-back episodes on Tuesday night on OWN. It premieres on Tuesday, February 7 at 9:00 p.m. Et/ Pt with the show’s pilot episode titled “Insecure As F**k.”

This is a rare HBO series to get an off-network run on basic cable where premium content normally has to be sanitized to comply with ad-supported networks’ broadcast standards for language, nudity, violence, etc. In this case, the agreement with HBO and Rae does not allow for any edits or alterations to the content besides the insertion of commercial breaks. Aside from those and a Standards & Practices advisory cards at the top of each break, the show will air as it was created for HBO, sources tell Deadline.

HBO made a big push in the arena more than a decade ago when...

A three-part docuseries charting the rise, movements, voices and memes that made Black Twitter an influential and dominant force in nearly every aspect of American political and cultural life has received a straight-to-series order from Disney’s Onyx Collective.

“Black Twitter” (working title), based on Jason Parham’s Wired article “A People’s History of Black Twitter,” will be produced by Parham and directed by Prentice Penny, marking his first project with Onyx through an overall deal under his A Penny for Your Thoughts banner.

The series’ executive producers include Penny, Chris Pollack and Alex Solar from A Penny for Your Thoughts; Sarah Amos, Helen Estabrook, Agnes Chu and Andrew Whitney from Wired Studios; and Raeshem Nijhon, Carri Twigg, Nicole Galovski and showrunner Joie Jacoby from Culture House.

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Additionally, Onyx has picked up...

Onyx has ordered a scripted comedy from 20th Television featuring Gabourey Sidibe and has made straight to series order on a docuseries about Black Twitter.

The pilot 1266 follows Gabby Brixton (Sidibe), who’s living with her mom and making half-hearted attempts to become a singer/model and overnight millionaire. When she’s fired from her job, she stumbles upon the gig of a lifetime ― phone sex. What initially seems like a quick way to make money turns into a life-changing experience when she meets the women who become her chosen family and learns how powerful, profitable and prolific her voice can be.

The series is inspired by the true-life story of Sidibe, who is executive producing with Thembi Banks (Only Murders in the Building), Steven Canals (Pose), and Julie Bean (grown-ish), with Jill Kaplan to serve as a non-writing executive producer. Banks and Bean will be co-showrunners. Banks is writing...

Onyx Collective is bulking up.

The Disney-owned brand, which is expressly focused on programming from creators of color and other underrepresented voices, announced Saturday a pilot pickup for a Gabourey Sidibe comedy, tentatively titled 1266, and a straight-to-series order for a multi-party documentary series about Black Twitter. The latter is based on Jason Parham’s widely read 2021 Wired article, “A People’s History of Black Twitter.”

The comedy, which hails from corporate cousin 20th Television, is inspired by Sidibe’s life story. The Academy Award-nominated actress, who rose to fame with Lee Daniels’ 2009 film Precious, will star as Gabby Brixton. In the pilot, Brixton’s life is believed to be aimless ― she’s living with her mom and making half-hearted attempts to become a singer/model. When she’s fired from yet another job, she turns to phone sex. What initially seems like a quick way to make money becomes a...

Onyx Collective presented several new scripted and unscripted TV series as part of its expanding programming slate, highlighting creators of color at the Television Critics Association 2023 winter press tour.

The premiere date for the original dramedy “UnPrisoned” has been set for March 10 on Hulu, with all episodes streaming at once.

Executive produced by and starring Kerry Washington and Delroy Lindo, the half-hour series tells the story of “a messy but perfectionist relationship therapist and single mom whose life is turned right-side-up when her dad gets out of prison and moves in with her and her teenage son,” per Onyx Collective.

Created by Tracy McMillan and inspired by her life, the author also serves as an executive producer alongside Washington and Pilar Savone through their Simpson Street production company, Lindo, Joy Gorman Wettels, Jen Braeden and Yvette Lee Bowser, who also serves as showrunner. ABC Signature is behind the production.

The...

Yetide Badaki, who may be best known for playing the character Bilquis on the television series American Gods, is teaming up with Payback Entertainment to develop both a TV series and a comic book called Naija Vamp, a “Nigerian vampire story” that will tell us all about a Nigerian vampire’s hunger for eternal love, beyond the flesh. It is described as an irreverent love letter to all those who have ever felt othered, wrapped in a blood-sucking coming-of-age self-discovery romp.

Both the television and comic book versions of Naija Vamp will follow Bisi, who is turning 40 years old. Again. In fact, Bisi turned 40 many years ago when she became a vampire as part of her Nigerian undead family heritage. Struggling to find herself in the New World amidst navigating her family’s Old World vampiric expectations and unable to keep a partner for fear of eating them, Bisi’s...

Joining forces with Payback Entertainment, “American Gods” actress Yetide Badaki is developing a project titled “Naija Vamp” as both a TV series and comic book, Deadline reports.

Deadline’s report announces, “Naija Vamp is about a Nigerian vampire’s hunger for eternal love, beyond the flesh. It is described as an irreverent love letter to all those who have ever felt othered, wrapped in a blood-sucking coming-of-age self-discovery romp.”

“The story follows Bisi, who is turning 40 years old. Again. In fact, Bisi turned 40 many years ago when she became a vampire as part of her Nigerian undead family heritage. Struggling to find herself in the New World amidst navigating her family’s Old World vampiric expectations and unable to keep a partner for fear of eating them, Bisi’s (after)life has felt like one perpetual time loop she can’t quite escape. But this year is going to be different.

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Couples who work together navigate the dance between personal and professional in a variety of ways. For Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani — the married duo who earned an Oscar nomination for their original screenplay for The Big Sick in 2018 — the lines are clearly drawn. “There are office hours, Monday through Friday,” says Gordon. “At the end of the week, I clean my computer and turn it off.”

Adds Nanjiani, “If we’re hanging out, and one of us gets an idea about work, we have to ask permission to bring it up. Sometimes the other person says, ‘No!’ “

There are some weeks when that can prove challenging. Gordon, a former therapist, and Nanjiani, the actor best known for HBO’s Silicon Valley and for starring in The Big Sick, have been especially stretched of late. When they hopped on camera from their...

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Natasha Rothwell is striking out on her own.

The Insecure and White Lotus alum will star in, write and co-showrun How to Die Alone, a comedy that has been ordered straight to series at Hulu. The project hails from Onyx Collective, the Tara Duncan-led studio focused on underrepresented voices, and ABC Signature and stems from an overall deal with both that Rothwell signed earlier this year.

Hulu and Onyx say How to Die Alone will follow Melissa (Rothwell), “a fat, black, neurotic woman who has never been in love. After a comical brush with death, she refuses to settle for anything less than the life she wants, catapulting her on a journey to becoming ‘100 percent that bitch’ in real life by any means necessary.”

Rothwell and Vera Santamaria (Hulu’s Pen15) serve as co-showrunners on How to Die Alone. Both will exec...

Brad Schwartz has been officially named as President, CW Entertainment.

This comes less than a day after Deadline revealed that he was the main candidate for the top programming role following Nexstar’s acquisition of the network.

Former Pop TV chief Schwartz will be responsible for programming strategy, creative and brand development, and day-to-day operations of The CW Network.

He will report to Dennis Miller, President, The CW Network.

As Deadline said yesterday, Schwartz, the man behind Pop TV’s Emmy-winning Schitt’s Creek, makes sense to lead the new look CW, which will have an increasing focus on unscripted shows and fewer, cheaper scripted series.

Miller said that one of the reasons he was hired was because he knows “how to develop and acquire hits with limited resources, nurture talent, and broaden the appeal of diverse media assets”.

He also recently consulted at The CW on long-term strategy and programming...

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Onyx Collective, the Disney studio focused on underrepresented communities including creators of color, continues to ramp up its originals.

The studio has handed out a pilot order for comedy Deli Boys, starring Asif Ali and Saagar Shaikh, from writer and creator Abdullah Saeed (High Maintenance).

The comedy revolves around a pair of pampered Pakistani-American brothers who, after their convenience store magnate father suddenly dies, lose everything and are forced to reckon with their Baba’s secret life of crime as they attempt to take up his mantle in the underworld.

Ali (Marvel’s WandaVision, Don’t Worry Darling, The Mandalorian) will play Mir Dar, the hardworking and enthusiastic son who is eager to impress his father, Baba, a scrappy immigrant who arrived in the U.S. broke and built an empire from scratch. Shaikh (Ms. Marvel, The Marvels) will portray Raj Dar, Baba’s other son,...

Exclusive: Author, writer, designer and entrepreneur Bobby Hundreds (aka Bobby Kim) has signed with Theresa Kang’s Blue Marble Management for representation across film, television, and all media.

Hundreds is the bestselling author of This Is Not a T-Shirt, a memoir about his life and building a streetwear brand around community. He is currently writing his second novel, NFTs Are A Scam, which will publish in Spring 2023 by McD Books under Farrar, Straus & Giroux. Respected as a vocal thought leader in the Nft space, he has been tapped to speak on the subject at conferences worldwide and podcasts such as Nft Now and NPR’s The Limits.

Hundreds has been writing creative fiction and non-fiction for the last two decades, and independently through his blogs. He has been published in cultural sites such as Hypebeast and Complex.

He is also known as the Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of global streetwear brand,...

Riot Games has hired veteran executive Mandy Beckner as its global head of live action development, film and TV. She joins the developer and publisher after a stint as director of content for the original indie film group at Netflix. In her new role, Beckner will be in charge of developing live-action film and TV content for all of Riot’s “League of Legends”-related IP.

Beckner will report to Brian Wright, Riot Games’ chief content officer.

“Mandy is a dynamic executive with a successful track record that speaks to the kind of entertaining and engaging IP that Riot is known for,” Wright said in a statement. “We are thrilled to welcome her to the Riot family.”

In addition to creating such games as “League of Legends” and “Valorant,” Riot has also produced the Emmy-winning animated series “Arcane.”

While at Netflix, Beckner worked on Prentice Penny’s feature directorial debut “Uncorked,...