Exclusive: FilmNation Entertainment has hired television producer Robin Schwartz as President of Television.
Schwartz will be based in Los Angeles and report to FilmNation CEO Glen Basner.
She will oversee all aspects of development and production for the independent studio’s growing television slate and lead the division as the company accelerates its ambitions in the TV space.
FilmNation is currently in production in Ireland on Small Town, Big Story created by Chris O’Dowd starring Paddy Considine and Christina Hendricks which will be distributed by Sky in the UK. FilmNation’s first foray into television, I Know This Much Is True for HBO, garnered Mark Ruffalo an Emmy Award for his lead role.
Most recently, Schwartz had a producing deal with Tomorrow Studios under her Working Bird banner. Before that she headed up the television divisions of Big Beach, Regency, and OWN: the Oprah Winfrey Network. She began her...
Schwartz will be based in Los Angeles and report to FilmNation CEO Glen Basner.
She will oversee all aspects of development and production for the independent studio’s growing television slate and lead the division as the company accelerates its ambitions in the TV space.
FilmNation is currently in production in Ireland on Small Town, Big Story created by Chris O’Dowd starring Paddy Considine and Christina Hendricks which will be distributed by Sky in the UK. FilmNation’s first foray into television, I Know This Much Is True for HBO, garnered Mark Ruffalo an Emmy Award for his lead role.
Most recently, Schwartz had a producing deal with Tomorrow Studios under her Working Bird banner. Before that she headed up the television divisions of Big Beach, Regency, and OWN: the Oprah Winfrey Network. She began her...
- 11/28/2023
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Steve Carell will make his Broadway debut next spring in the title role of Lincoln Center Theater’s Uncle Vanya, appearing with, among others, Alison Pill as Sonya, Alfred Molina as Alexander Serabryakov and Anika Noni Rose as Yelena.
The production will begin previews Tuesday, April 2, 2024, at Lct’s Vivian Beaumont Theater, opening on Wednesday, April 24. As previously announced, Heidi Schreck (What the Constitution Means to Me) is writing a new translation, and Lila Neugebauer (The Waverly Gallery) will direct.
Also joining the cast are William Jackson Harper as Astrov, Jayne Houdyshell as Mama Voinitski and Mia Katigbak as Marina. Complete casting will be announced soon.
The synopsis: Sonya (Pill) and her uncle Vanya (Carell) have devoted their lives to managing the family farm in isolation, but when her celebrated, ailing father (Molina) and his charismatic wife (Rose) move in, their lives are upended. In the heat of the summer,...
The production will begin previews Tuesday, April 2, 2024, at Lct’s Vivian Beaumont Theater, opening on Wednesday, April 24. As previously announced, Heidi Schreck (What the Constitution Means to Me) is writing a new translation, and Lila Neugebauer (The Waverly Gallery) will direct.
Also joining the cast are William Jackson Harper as Astrov, Jayne Houdyshell as Mama Voinitski and Mia Katigbak as Marina. Complete casting will be announced soon.
The synopsis: Sonya (Pill) and her uncle Vanya (Carell) have devoted their lives to managing the family farm in isolation, but when her celebrated, ailing father (Molina) and his charismatic wife (Rose) move in, their lives are upended. In the heat of the summer,...
- 11/14/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Steve Carell will make his Broadway debut this spring as Vanya in a new adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya.
Carell will star alongside William Jackson Harper as Astrov, Jayne Houdyshell as Mama Voinitski, Mia Katigbak as Marina, Alfred Molina as Alexander Serabryakov, Alison Pill as Sonya and Anika Noni Rose as Yelena.
The adaptation, penned by Heidi Schreck and directed by Lila Neugebauer, is scheduled to begin previews at the Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater on April 2, 2024, and open on April 24.
The classic play sees Sonya (Pill) and her uncle Vanya (Carell) living on a family farm in isolation, only to have their lives upended by Sonya’s sick father (Alfred Molina) and his wife (Anika Noni Rose), who move in with them.
Uncle Vanya will feature sets by Mimi Lien, costumes by Kaye Voyce, lighting by Lap Chi Chu and Elizabeth Harper, and sound by Mikhail Fiksel and Beth Lake.
Carell will star alongside William Jackson Harper as Astrov, Jayne Houdyshell as Mama Voinitski, Mia Katigbak as Marina, Alfred Molina as Alexander Serabryakov, Alison Pill as Sonya and Anika Noni Rose as Yelena.
The adaptation, penned by Heidi Schreck and directed by Lila Neugebauer, is scheduled to begin previews at the Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater on April 2, 2024, and open on April 24.
The classic play sees Sonya (Pill) and her uncle Vanya (Carell) living on a family farm in isolation, only to have their lives upended by Sonya’s sick father (Alfred Molina) and his wife (Anika Noni Rose), who move in with them.
Uncle Vanya will feature sets by Mimi Lien, costumes by Kaye Voyce, lighting by Lap Chi Chu and Elizabeth Harper, and sound by Mikhail Fiksel and Beth Lake.
- 11/14/2023
- by Caitlin Huston
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
André Bishop will step down from his role as producing artistic director of Lincoln Center Theater next year, after having worked at the nonprofit theater company for 33 years.
Bishop will depart at the end of the theater’s 2024-2025 season and the board of Lincoln Center Theater will launch a search for his successor “in due course.” The move from Bishop, who has held the position of producing artistic director at the Lincoln Center theater since July 2013, after serving as artistic director since January 1992, marks the latest shake-up in Broadway’s nonprofit realm, which consists of four theater companies.
On Wednesday, Second Stage founder Carole Rothman announced she would leave the company after 45 years. Longtime Roundabout Theatre Company CEO and Artistic Director Todd Haimes died in April, and Manhattan Theatre Club Executive Producer Barry Grove announced his departure in January after 48 years with the organization.
Chris Jennings, who had previously...
Bishop will depart at the end of the theater’s 2024-2025 season and the board of Lincoln Center Theater will launch a search for his successor “in due course.” The move from Bishop, who has held the position of producing artistic director at the Lincoln Center theater since July 2013, after serving as artistic director since January 1992, marks the latest shake-up in Broadway’s nonprofit realm, which consists of four theater companies.
On Wednesday, Second Stage founder Carole Rothman announced she would leave the company after 45 years. Longtime Roundabout Theatre Company CEO and Artistic Director Todd Haimes died in April, and Manhattan Theatre Club Executive Producer Barry Grove announced his departure in January after 48 years with the organization.
Chris Jennings, who had previously...
- 9/22/2023
- by Caitlin Huston
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A new adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya will play the Lincoln Center Theater this spring.
The classic play will feature a new translation by Heidi Schreck, writer and star of What the Constitution Means to Me, and direction by Lila Neugebauer, who previously directed Kenneth Lonergan’s The Waverly Gallery on Broadway. Uncle Vanya will begin previews at the Vivian Beaumont Theater on April 2, 2024, with an opening night on April 24.
Casting will be announced at a later date.
The play, first produced in 1899, follows Sonya and her Uncle Vanya, whose lives working on their family farm are interrupted by the arrival of her father and his charismatic wife. It has been produced on Broadway many times, most recently in a 2000 revival with Laura Linney, Derek Jacobi and Roger Rees.
In addition to writing and starring in What the Constitution Means to Me, which was nominated for two Tony...
The classic play will feature a new translation by Heidi Schreck, writer and star of What the Constitution Means to Me, and direction by Lila Neugebauer, who previously directed Kenneth Lonergan’s The Waverly Gallery on Broadway. Uncle Vanya will begin previews at the Vivian Beaumont Theater on April 2, 2024, with an opening night on April 24.
Casting will be announced at a later date.
The play, first produced in 1899, follows Sonya and her Uncle Vanya, whose lives working on their family farm are interrupted by the arrival of her father and his charismatic wife. It has been produced on Broadway many times, most recently in a 2000 revival with Laura Linney, Derek Jacobi and Roger Rees.
In addition to writing and starring in What the Constitution Means to Me, which was nominated for two Tony...
- 9/14/2023
- by Caitlin Huston
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A Broadway revival of Anton Chekhov’s classic Uncle Vanya, with a new translation by playwright Heidi Schreck, will be staged this spring by Lincoln Center Theater. Lila Neugebauer (The Waverly Gallery) will direct.
Uncle Vanya will begin previews at Lct’s Vivian Beaumont Theater on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, ahead of an official opening night on Wednesday, April 24.
Schreck is best known for her critically acclaimed play What the Constitution Means to Me, which was nominated for two Tony Awards for its sold-out 2019 Broadway run. The play, which Shreck wrote and performed, was subsequently staged at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the Mark Taper Forum, and other venues.
Casting for Uncle Vanya will be announced at a later date. The creative design team will include Mimi Lien (sets), Kaye Voyce (costumes), Lap Chi Chu (lights), and Mikhail Fiksel and Beth Lake (sound).
In its announcement today, Lct said the...
Uncle Vanya will begin previews at Lct’s Vivian Beaumont Theater on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, ahead of an official opening night on Wednesday, April 24.
Schreck is best known for her critically acclaimed play What the Constitution Means to Me, which was nominated for two Tony Awards for its sold-out 2019 Broadway run. The play, which Shreck wrote and performed, was subsequently staged at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the Mark Taper Forum, and other venues.
Casting for Uncle Vanya will be announced at a later date. The creative design team will include Mimi Lien (sets), Kaye Voyce (costumes), Lap Chi Chu (lights), and Mikhail Fiksel and Beth Lake (sound).
In its announcement today, Lct said the...
- 9/14/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Gabriel Bier Gislason, the rising genre filmmaker whose feature directorial debut Attachment world premiered to critical acclaim at last year’s Tribeca Festival, has signed with Curate for management.
The Danish-American creative’s horror romance tells the story of Maja (Josephine Park), a Danish has-been actress who falls in love with Leah (Ellie Kendrick), a Jewish academic from London. When Leah suffers a mysterious seizure, and Maja returns with her to London, Maja meets her paramour’s mother, Chana (Sofie Gråbøl), a woman who holds dark secrets.
A festival favorite that went on to screen in competition at Fantastic Fest, Sitges, Outfest, and the BFI London Film Festival, among other venues, Attachment debuted on Shudder last month after being snapped up out of Tribeca.
The Copenhagen-born Gislason earned his Mfa at NYU and splits his time between NYC and Denmark, where he is concurrently developing a TV series for...
The Danish-American creative’s horror romance tells the story of Maja (Josephine Park), a Danish has-been actress who falls in love with Leah (Ellie Kendrick), a Jewish academic from London. When Leah suffers a mysterious seizure, and Maja returns with her to London, Maja meets her paramour’s mother, Chana (Sofie Gråbøl), a woman who holds dark secrets.
A festival favorite that went on to screen in competition at Fantastic Fest, Sitges, Outfest, and the BFI London Film Festival, among other venues, Attachment debuted on Shudder last month after being snapped up out of Tribeca.
The Copenhagen-born Gislason earned his Mfa at NYU and splits his time between NYC and Denmark, where he is concurrently developing a TV series for...
- 8/17/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
“A Transparent Musical” is heading to New York and Broadway. The show, the first stage play from Amazon Studios, premiered in Los Angeles at the Mark Taper Forum in May — becoming the last show at the Taper for now, as Center Theater Group has canceled all shows at the stage following the close of “A Transparent Musical” on June 25.
But whereas the Mark Taper is on hold, “A Transparent Musical” has big things in store. According to Amazon, the show’s producers “intend to bring the show to Broadway sometime in 2024.” The musical, or course, is based on Amazon Prime Video’s Emmy-winning series “Transparent,” created by Joey Soloway, who also wrote the book to the stage musical with Mj Kaufman. Faith Soloway wrote the music and lyrics to “A Transparent Musical.”
Joining them is Tony-winning producer Eva Price, whose play “What the Constitution Means to Me” (by Heidi Schreck...
But whereas the Mark Taper is on hold, “A Transparent Musical” has big things in store. According to Amazon, the show’s producers “intend to bring the show to Broadway sometime in 2024.” The musical, or course, is based on Amazon Prime Video’s Emmy-winning series “Transparent,” created by Joey Soloway, who also wrote the book to the stage musical with Mj Kaufman. Faith Soloway wrote the music and lyrics to “A Transparent Musical.”
Joining them is Tony-winning producer Eva Price, whose play “What the Constitution Means to Me” (by Heidi Schreck...
- 7/10/2023
- by Michael Schneider
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: A+E Studios is getting into business with Curate Management and its founder Britton Rizzio. The studio has signed a first-look deal with the company to develop scripted series for broadcast and streaming in the U.S. and international space. Curate says the deal reinforces the company’s commitment to producing content that reflects unique perspectives and stories.
Curate, one of the few female-led-and-run literary management companies in town, was founded by film and TV literary manager Rizzio in 2021 with a focus on creators in film, television and books. The company has seen significant growth with Literary Manager Courtney Conwell joining as Partner and the hire of Becca Rodriguez as Book and IP Manager. In addition, Curate acquired Zipa Entertainment bringing Partner Sofia Escallon into the fold. The acquisition expanded Curate’s reach to Mexico where Escallon is based, with a focus on bilingual and bi-cultural showrunners, writers and directors in Latin America.
Curate, one of the few female-led-and-run literary management companies in town, was founded by film and TV literary manager Rizzio in 2021 with a focus on creators in film, television and books. The company has seen significant growth with Literary Manager Courtney Conwell joining as Partner and the hire of Becca Rodriguez as Book and IP Manager. In addition, Curate acquired Zipa Entertainment bringing Partner Sofia Escallon into the fold. The acquisition expanded Curate’s reach to Mexico where Escallon is based, with a focus on bilingual and bi-cultural showrunners, writers and directors in Latin America.
- 4/7/2023
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Mark Subias, UTA partner and head of theater, is exiting the agency to take a newly created job at production company Smuggler.
Subias, who has headed UTA’s Theater department for the past decade, will join Smuggler as Managing Partner of a new management arm at Smuggler, an international commercial, theater and film production company. Subias also will be developing and producing projects across theater, TV and film for the company.
“Mark helped plant UTA’s flag in the theater community and we are grateful to him for building out the business and the wonderful team of agents he helped hire, promote and mentor,” said UTA President David Kramer. “We’re excited to see what Mark does, and to continue to collaborate with him in his new endeavor.”
As Managing Partner, Subias will oversee the development and growth of the newly created Smuggler Management. He’ll be tasked with...
Subias, who has headed UTA’s Theater department for the past decade, will join Smuggler as Managing Partner of a new management arm at Smuggler, an international commercial, theater and film production company. Subias also will be developing and producing projects across theater, TV and film for the company.
“Mark helped plant UTA’s flag in the theater community and we are grateful to him for building out the business and the wonderful team of agents he helped hire, promote and mentor,” said UTA President David Kramer. “We’re excited to see what Mark does, and to continue to collaborate with him in his new endeavor.”
As Managing Partner, Subias will oversee the development and growth of the newly created Smuggler Management. He’ll be tasked with...
- 2/17/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
MGM’s Orion Pictures and Audible Theater have partnered for “Women Talking: An Evening of Wild Female Imagination,” a one night only special theatrical event at Audible’s off-Broadway Minetta Lane Theatre in New York City. The Jan. 9 event will feature director Sarah Polley and cast members Jessie Buckley, Sheila McCarthy, Michelle McLeod, Liv McNeil, August Winter and Kate Hallett for an evening showcasing three new works inspired by the film.
Playwrights Sandra Delgado, Ruth Tang and Brittany Allen have written pieces inspired by the film centered around the idea of women coming together to decide what’s best for their community. The evening will also include a conversation with Polley and the playwrights, led by Tony Award nominee and Pulitzer Prize finalist Heidi Schreck. Zoe Chao is also part of the program, performing a monologue by Brtittany Allen. Two-time Tony nominee Eva Noblezada will perform Billie Eilish’s “My Future.
Playwrights Sandra Delgado, Ruth Tang and Brittany Allen have written pieces inspired by the film centered around the idea of women coming together to decide what’s best for their community. The evening will also include a conversation with Polley and the playwrights, led by Tony Award nominee and Pulitzer Prize finalist Heidi Schreck. Zoe Chao is also part of the program, performing a monologue by Brtittany Allen. Two-time Tony nominee Eva Noblezada will perform Billie Eilish’s “My Future.
- 1/5/2023
- by Marc Malkin
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Britton Rizzio’s boutique management firm Curate Management, focused on creators in film and TV, has announced its acquisition of Zipa Entertainment, the Mexico City-based management company founded by Sofia Escallon. Escallon now joins Curate as a Partner, and will spearhead the company’s efforts to expand internationally.
Zipa’s focus on bilingual and bi-cultural showrunners, writers and directors working in Latin America, with the potential to cross over to other markets, broadens Curate’s value proposition and significantly increases its scope of representation. Its clients include such prominent creators as Fernanda Eguiarte, whose show La Flor Más Bella, co-created with comedian Michelle Rodriguez, premiered on Netflix in early December; Miguel Garcia Moreno, the Spanish co-creator of the Netflix series Control Z; Isaac Cherem, the Mexican co-writer and director of the film Leona, which was nominated for seven Ariel Awards; Lucero Sanchez Novaro, the Mexican director and writer nominated...
Zipa’s focus on bilingual and bi-cultural showrunners, writers and directors working in Latin America, with the potential to cross over to other markets, broadens Curate’s value proposition and significantly increases its scope of representation. Its clients include such prominent creators as Fernanda Eguiarte, whose show La Flor Más Bella, co-created with comedian Michelle Rodriguez, premiered on Netflix in early December; Miguel Garcia Moreno, the Spanish co-creator of the Netflix series Control Z; Isaac Cherem, the Mexican co-writer and director of the film Leona, which was nominated for seven Ariel Awards; Lucero Sanchez Novaro, the Mexican director and writer nominated...
- 12/15/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Amazon is exploring the world of teenage girls and shoplifting in its latest comedy pilot.
The streamer has ordered and shot half-hour comedy pilot Lifted starring Ivy Wolk, Veronica Taylor, Kate Godfrey and Annie Marie Elliot.
The project comes from Jawline director Liza Mandelup and Yeast director Mary Bronstein, who have co-created it and write and exec produce. Mandelup will also direct with Heidi Schreck, a Nurse Jackie writer whose Broadway play What the Constitution Means to Me aired on Amazon, exec producing.
A24 is producing with Amazon Studios.
The pilot explores the lives of four geographically, socio-economically, and racially diverse American teenage girls united by an online community built around shoplifting. A commentary on identity and how we communicate now, Lifted follows these young, awkwardly funny characters as they attempt to find themselves, form relationships, and discover their power and purpose.
Wolk is best known for her role...
The streamer has ordered and shot half-hour comedy pilot Lifted starring Ivy Wolk, Veronica Taylor, Kate Godfrey and Annie Marie Elliot.
The project comes from Jawline director Liza Mandelup and Yeast director Mary Bronstein, who have co-created it and write and exec produce. Mandelup will also direct with Heidi Schreck, a Nurse Jackie writer whose Broadway play What the Constitution Means to Me aired on Amazon, exec producing.
A24 is producing with Amazon Studios.
The pilot explores the lives of four geographically, socio-economically, and racially diverse American teenage girls united by an online community built around shoplifting. A commentary on identity and how we communicate now, Lifted follows these young, awkwardly funny characters as they attempt to find themselves, form relationships, and discover their power and purpose.
Wolk is best known for her role...
- 12/7/2022
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Kyle Laursen is joining Justin Simien’s production company Culture Machine as President of Film and Television, where he will oversee all scripted and unscripted projects. Laursen will work alongside the award-winning Simien, and Creative Executive, Aaliyah Jihad. Culture Machine currently has an overall deal with Paramount Television Studios.
“Justin is a versatile artist with a singular voice that I’ve admired for many years. From the moment we met, I became further inspired by his ambition, integrity & desire to support creatives like himself who do not see their story reflected in our culture,” said Laursen. “I’m thrilled to help build Culture Machine alongside Justin, to provide a bridge for underrepresented voices to find their audience and to amplify thematically distinct creatives demanding of a big stage with the incredible support of our home studio.”
Laursen began his career at Plan B, where he became a Creative Executive on shows including The Oa,...
“Justin is a versatile artist with a singular voice that I’ve admired for many years. From the moment we met, I became further inspired by his ambition, integrity & desire to support creatives like himself who do not see their story reflected in our culture,” said Laursen. “I’m thrilled to help build Culture Machine alongside Justin, to provide a bridge for underrepresented voices to find their audience and to amplify thematically distinct creatives demanding of a big stage with the incredible support of our home studio.”
Laursen began his career at Plan B, where he became a Creative Executive on shows including The Oa,...
- 9/21/2022
- by Justin Kroll
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Creators Torrey Speer, Nora McInerny and Katie O’Brien have signed with Curate for management.
Speer received WGA and PGA award nominations this year for her work on Apple TV’s The Morning Show, where she served as supervising producer on the first two seasons of the Jennifer Aniston/Reese Witherspoon drama series. Speer broke into television writing as an assistant in the writers rooms for NBC’s Friday Night Lights and Parenthood before going on to write for three seasons of A&e’s Bates Motel starring Vera Farmiga. She later wrote for Youtube’s original drama series Impulse directed by Doug Liman.
McInerny’s writing career began in 2014 when the obituary she wrote with her husband Aaron went viral, revealing his true identity as Spider-Man and his cause of death as a radioactive spider bite that led to his demise from brain cancer. Since then, she has published multiple novels including her memoir,...
Speer received WGA and PGA award nominations this year for her work on Apple TV’s The Morning Show, where she served as supervising producer on the first two seasons of the Jennifer Aniston/Reese Witherspoon drama series. Speer broke into television writing as an assistant in the writers rooms for NBC’s Friday Night Lights and Parenthood before going on to write for three seasons of A&e’s Bates Motel starring Vera Farmiga. She later wrote for Youtube’s original drama series Impulse directed by Doug Liman.
McInerny’s writing career began in 2014 when the obituary she wrote with her husband Aaron went viral, revealing his true identity as Spider-Man and his cause of death as a radioactive spider bite that led to his demise from brain cancer. Since then, she has published multiple novels including her memoir,...
- 8/1/2022
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Winners of the 2022 Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway were announced in a ceremony on May 1, 2022, at NYU Skirball. New musicals “Kimberly Akimbo” and “Oratorio for Living Things” tied for the most wins, with three trophies each. The Lucille Lortel Awards are produced by the Off-Broadway League and Lucille Lortel Theatre, with additional support provided by Tdf.
The cast of Ars Nova’s “Oratorio For Living Things” took home the inaugural award for Outstanding Ensemble, while the Broadway-bound “Kimberly Akimbo” nabbed the two individual musical acting categories, with Lead Performance going to Victoria Clark and Featured Performance going to Bonnie Milligan.
Special honorees this year included Deirdre O’Connell (“Dana H.”), who was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award by Heidi Schreck; and David Henry Hwang, who was inducted onto the famed Playwrights’ Sidewalk by Jeanine Tesori.
Find the nominees and recipients of the 2022 Lucille Lortal Awards below.
SEEAlfie Allen (‘Hangmen...
The cast of Ars Nova’s “Oratorio For Living Things” took home the inaugural award for Outstanding Ensemble, while the Broadway-bound “Kimberly Akimbo” nabbed the two individual musical acting categories, with Lead Performance going to Victoria Clark and Featured Performance going to Bonnie Milligan.
Special honorees this year included Deirdre O’Connell (“Dana H.”), who was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award by Heidi Schreck; and David Henry Hwang, who was inducted onto the famed Playwrights’ Sidewalk by Jeanine Tesori.
Find the nominees and recipients of the 2022 Lucille Lortal Awards below.
SEEAlfie Allen (‘Hangmen...
- 5/2/2022
- by Sam Eckmann
- Gold Derby
Exclusive: Curate Management founder Britton Rizzio has promoted TV and film literary manager Courtney Conwell to partner, Deadline has learned.
Rizzio formed Curate in November to provide a hands-on and global approach to representation and saw a coveted roster of clients align with the new venture, one of the few female-owned literary management firms in Hollywood.
“I’m thrilled to be able to elevate Courtney and have always seen her as a leader. She’s forward-thinking, doesn’t settle for status quo, and is a fierce protector of her clients’ voices,” Rizzio tells Deadline. “Curate represents innovative and ground-breaking thinkers, my goal is to build a team of managers and producers who reflect those values.”
Conwell’s roster includes visionary storytellers such as writer/director Emily Carmichael (Jurassic World Dominion), Our Lady J (Pose), Sarah Lampert (Ginny and Georgia), Emma Fletcher (Social Justice Warrior), Corina Maritescu (Joe vs. Carole), Emily Kaczmarek...
Rizzio formed Curate in November to provide a hands-on and global approach to representation and saw a coveted roster of clients align with the new venture, one of the few female-owned literary management firms in Hollywood.
“I’m thrilled to be able to elevate Courtney and have always seen her as a leader. She’s forward-thinking, doesn’t settle for status quo, and is a fierce protector of her clients’ voices,” Rizzio tells Deadline. “Curate represents innovative and ground-breaking thinkers, my goal is to build a team of managers and producers who reflect those values.”
Conwell’s roster includes visionary storytellers such as writer/director Emily Carmichael (Jurassic World Dominion), Our Lady J (Pose), Sarah Lampert (Ginny and Georgia), Emma Fletcher (Social Justice Warrior), Corina Maritescu (Joe vs. Carole), Emily Kaczmarek...
- 3/23/2022
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Marielle Heller has set a new first-look deal with Paramount Television Studios for her company, Defiant by Nature. Along with producing partners Havilah Brewster and Leah Holzer, Heller will develop premium television shows for the studio across its platforms.
Heller came to prominence as a writer-director for 2015’s “Diary of a Teenage Girl,” for which she won an Independent Spirit Award for best first feature. She then went on to direct “Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018) and “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” (2019), which drew effusive critical praise — as well as Oscar nominations for Melissa McCarthy, Richard E. Grant and Tom Hanks. Heller, who began her career as an actor, also co-starred in the Emmy-winning limited series “The Queen’s Gambit” in fall 2020, playing Alma.
Heller and Brewster formed Defiant by Nature in 2018, and its first project was Heller’s filmed version of Heidi Schreck’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “What the Constitution Means to Me,...
Heller came to prominence as a writer-director for 2015’s “Diary of a Teenage Girl,” for which she won an Independent Spirit Award for best first feature. She then went on to direct “Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018) and “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” (2019), which drew effusive critical praise — as well as Oscar nominations for Melissa McCarthy, Richard E. Grant and Tom Hanks. Heller, who began her career as an actor, also co-starred in the Emmy-winning limited series “The Queen’s Gambit” in fall 2020, playing Alma.
Heller and Brewster formed Defiant by Nature in 2018, and its first project was Heller’s filmed version of Heidi Schreck’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “What the Constitution Means to Me,...
- 3/9/2022
- by Kate Aurthur
- Variety Film + TV
As Broadway and local stages remained closed over the past year of the pandemic, it was television that kept the spirit of theater alive. Watching a taped version of a stage performance doesn’t replace the excitement and personal connection that comes with seeing works in person — but some of this year’s top variety special (pre-recorded) contenders are pretty outstanding substitutes.
The film version of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton” was never going to be an Oscar contender, due to Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences rules that recorded stage productions are not eligible for consideration. When Disney decided to drop a planned theatrical release for “Hamilton” and instead premiere it on Disney Plus over Independence Day weekend last year — in a move to both bolster the streaming service’s content offerings and also take advantage of audiences stuck at home during quarantine — it opened the door for Emmy consideration.
The film version of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton” was never going to be an Oscar contender, due to Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences rules that recorded stage productions are not eligible for consideration. When Disney decided to drop a planned theatrical release for “Hamilton” and instead premiere it on Disney Plus over Independence Day weekend last year — in a move to both bolster the streaming service’s content offerings and also take advantage of audiences stuck at home during quarantine — it opened the door for Emmy consideration.
- 6/21/2021
- by Michael Schneider
- Variety Film + TV
Stephen Sondheim is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers in musical theatre. He has claimed eight Tony Awards (more trophies than any other composer), eight Grammy Awards, and even picked up an Oscar for the “Dick Tracy” tune “Sooner or Later.” It may come as a surprise given his stature in the industry, that Sondheim is still an Emmy short of an Egot. More surprising still: Emmy voters have never even nominated him. This year, he could finally join the elusive Egot club thanks to the variety special “Tell the Story: Celebrating Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s Assassins.”
“Tell the Story” is one of many projects born out of the pandemic which shuttered the theatre industry. Classic Stage Company was set to produce a new revival of “Assassins” with an all-star cast, helmed by artistic director John Doyle (who famously directed the actors-as-musicians revivals of Sondheim’s...
“Tell the Story” is one of many projects born out of the pandemic which shuttered the theatre industry. Classic Stage Company was set to produce a new revival of “Assassins” with an all-star cast, helmed by artistic director John Doyle (who famously directed the actors-as-musicians revivals of Sondheim’s...
- 6/15/2021
- by Sam Eckmann
- Gold Derby
On May 30, actor, writer and director Bo Burnham launched a surprise sneak attack on a category that’s already one of the most competitive at this year’s Emmy Awards. That day, Netflix dropped “Bo Burnham Inside,” a comedy and music special that dissected life during the pandemic, won rave reviews and seemingly became a major player in the Emmys’ Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) category.
In a year of shows that surveyed our troubled existence in the face of Covid, “Inside” might well be the Covid-iest of all. Written, shot and performed by Burnham over the course of a year from inside a single room, it’s a twisted musical-comedy meditation on isolation, social media and the sociopolitical currents of our time.
It pretends to be a soul-baring examination of Burnham’s mental turmoil during lockdown, but it also mocks all that soul-baring; it’s supposed to be a record...
In a year of shows that surveyed our troubled existence in the face of Covid, “Inside” might well be the Covid-iest of all. Written, shot and performed by Burnham over the course of a year from inside a single room, it’s a twisted musical-comedy meditation on isolation, social media and the sociopolitical currents of our time.
It pretends to be a soul-baring examination of Burnham’s mental turmoil during lockdown, but it also mocks all that soul-baring; it’s supposed to be a record...
- 6/11/2021
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
“It took me to some really unexpected places,” reveals Heidi Schreck of her show “What the Constitution Means to Me.” The idea of a play about her teenage years as a constitutional debater came to her over a decade ago. She started with an exploration of debate memories, but soon found herself examining the ways in which women are excluded from the constitution. Schreck was nominated at the Tony Awards in 2019 for Best Play and Lead Actress in a Play, and was cited as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Now this important piece of theatre is finding new audiences across the globe thanks to a filmed version on Amazon Prime. Watch the exclusive video interview here.
See over 100 video interviews with 2021 Emmy contenders
Schreck plays herself on stage, embodying both teenage and adult personas. The personal nature of the performance leads to incredibly vulnerable storytelling moments such...
See over 100 video interviews with 2021 Emmy contenders
Schreck plays herself on stage, embodying both teenage and adult personas. The personal nature of the performance leads to incredibly vulnerable storytelling moments such...
- 5/21/2021
- by Sam Eckmann
- Gold Derby
“I think every time I perform the play, I learn something new,” What the Constitution Means to Me’s Heidi Schreck says of her acclaimed stage show that is now an Amazon Studios film. “I learn something new from debating the young women who are in the play, the teenage debaters I debate at the end,” added Schreck, the movie’s writer/performer/executive producer. “I think about my own family history in a different way. My feelings about what we need to do to make this document more effective for all people in this country have evolved.”
Schreck was discussing her Tony-nominated work during Deadline’s Contenders Television: Documentary + Unscripted virtual event. Essentially a one-women show with some pivotal other actors, Wtcmtm first premiered on stage in 2017 before moving to Broadway in 2019 and touring the nation up until the coronavirus pandemic shuttered live theater last spring. The film from...
Schreck was discussing her Tony-nominated work during Deadline’s Contenders Television: Documentary + Unscripted virtual event. Essentially a one-women show with some pivotal other actors, Wtcmtm first premiered on stage in 2017 before moving to Broadway in 2019 and touring the nation up until the coronavirus pandemic shuttered live theater last spring. The film from...
- 5/1/2021
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
Padma Lakshmi, the Queer Eye hosts, Stephen Colbert and Demi Lovato are just of the few of the top tiers names joining Deadline’s Contenders Television Documentary + Unscripted event on May 1.
The day-long livestreamed celebration starts at 8 a.m. Pt on Saturday, as the Oscars are in the rearview mirror and awards season puts pedal to the small screen metal.
Along with the Taste the Nation host and the Derek DelGaudio’s In & Of Itself executive producer, this newest addition to our Contenders events will see Demi Lovato, Michael D. Ratner, Derek DelGaudio himself, Frank Oz, Amy Schumer, Malcolm Spellman, Jameela Jamil, Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish will be among participants from the nearly 40 shows from 18 outlets at the virtual event.
Queer Eye’s Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, Tan France, Antoni Porowski and Jonathan Van Ness will also be there, as will Nicole Byer, a double dipping Ken Jeong, Rachel Brosnahan,...
The day-long livestreamed celebration starts at 8 a.m. Pt on Saturday, as the Oscars are in the rearview mirror and awards season puts pedal to the small screen metal.
Along with the Taste the Nation host and the Derek DelGaudio’s In & Of Itself executive producer, this newest addition to our Contenders events will see Demi Lovato, Michael D. Ratner, Derek DelGaudio himself, Frank Oz, Amy Schumer, Malcolm Spellman, Jameela Jamil, Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish will be among participants from the nearly 40 shows from 18 outlets at the virtual event.
Queer Eye’s Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, Tan France, Antoni Porowski and Jonathan Van Ness will also be there, as will Nicole Byer, a double dipping Ken Jeong, Rachel Brosnahan,...
- 4/28/2021
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
James C. Nicola, whose tenure as artistic director of Off Broadway’s New York Theatre Workshop included the development of such prominent stage works as Rent, Once, Hadestown, What the Constitution Means to Me, Slave Play and David Bowie’s Lazarus, will leave the post next year, the company announced today.
“In July of 2022, I will reach the age of 72,” Nicola said in a statement. “In my mind, that has always been the moment to interrupt whatever patterns there might be in my life, and to leap off a cliff into reinvention. So that is my plan.”
Nicola will depart Nytw on June 30, 2022. He has been the artistic director since 1988.
Under his stewardship, Nytw has cemented a reputation as an important force in the production and development of new theater work, many of which have gone on to Broadway runs. A partial list of important works developed at the Nytw includes Jonathan Larson’s Rent,...
“In July of 2022, I will reach the age of 72,” Nicola said in a statement. “In my mind, that has always been the moment to interrupt whatever patterns there might be in my life, and to leap off a cliff into reinvention. So that is my plan.”
Nicola will depart Nytw on June 30, 2022. He has been the artistic director since 1988.
Under his stewardship, Nytw has cemented a reputation as an important force in the production and development of new theater work, many of which have gone on to Broadway runs. A partial list of important works developed at the Nytw includes Jonathan Larson’s Rent,...
- 4/16/2021
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Update Eric McCormack will join the previously announced Mary-Louise Parker in the virtual performance of Paula Vogel’s The Baltimore Waltz, directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz, premiering on Thursday, April 29 as part of the virtual Spotlight on Plays series. Brandon Burton has also joined the cast.
Also announced today was the April 8 premiere date of Pearl Cleage’s Angry, Raucous and Shamelessly Gorgeous.
Previous, March 23 Meryl Streep, Mary-Louise Parker and Carla Gugino have joined the line-up of actors taking part in this year’s virtual Spotlight on Plays series benefitting The Actors Fund, with Streep reuniting with her Sophie’s Choice co-star Kevin Kline on Sarah Ruhl’s Dear Elizabeth.
Parker is set to perform in Paula Vogel’s The Baltimore Waltz. Gugino will be teamed with the previously announced Ellen Burstyn in Lillian Hellman’s Watch on the Rhine.
Others previously announced, in addition to Kline and Burstyn, are Kathryn Hahn,...
Also announced today was the April 8 premiere date of Pearl Cleage’s Angry, Raucous and Shamelessly Gorgeous.
Previous, March 23 Meryl Streep, Mary-Louise Parker and Carla Gugino have joined the line-up of actors taking part in this year’s virtual Spotlight on Plays series benefitting The Actors Fund, with Streep reuniting with her Sophie’s Choice co-star Kevin Kline on Sarah Ruhl’s Dear Elizabeth.
Parker is set to perform in Paula Vogel’s The Baltimore Waltz. Gugino will be teamed with the previously announced Ellen Burstyn in Lillian Hellman’s Watch on the Rhine.
Others previously announced, in addition to Kline and Burstyn, are Kathryn Hahn,...
- 4/7/2021
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Kathryn Hahn, Keanu Reeves, Debbie Allen, Ellen Burstyn and Bobby Cannavale are among the actors who’ll take part in this year’s virtual Spotlight on Plays series benefitting The Actors Fund.
Performers and directors were announced today by producer Jeffrey Richards for the series that kicks off March 25 with Larissa FastHorse’s The Thanksgiving Play, to be directed by Leigh Silverman.
Other artists to be featured in the spring series include Kevin Kline, Audra McDonald, Phylicia Rashad, Heidi Schreck, Alia Shawkat, Heather Alicia Simms, Alicia Stith and more, with additional details to be announced.
The play series, launched last year on the Broadway’s Best Shows website, features actors performing the works remotely, with the readings pre-recorded and edited. This year’s line-up of plays and directors include:
The Thanksgiving Play (March 25)
By Larissa FastHorse, Directed by Leigh Silverman
Angry, Raucous And Shamelessly Gorgeous (April 9)
By Pearl Cleage, Directed...
Performers and directors were announced today by producer Jeffrey Richards for the series that kicks off March 25 with Larissa FastHorse’s The Thanksgiving Play, to be directed by Leigh Silverman.
Other artists to be featured in the spring series include Kevin Kline, Audra McDonald, Phylicia Rashad, Heidi Schreck, Alia Shawkat, Heather Alicia Simms, Alicia Stith and more, with additional details to be announced.
The play series, launched last year on the Broadway’s Best Shows website, features actors performing the works remotely, with the readings pre-recorded and edited. This year’s line-up of plays and directors include:
The Thanksgiving Play (March 25)
By Larissa FastHorse, Directed by Leigh Silverman
Angry, Raucous And Shamelessly Gorgeous (April 9)
By Pearl Cleage, Directed...
- 3/8/2021
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Marielle Heller had tried everything. She was nearly a year into her campaign to adapt The Diary of a Teenage Girl, cartoonist Phoebe Gloeckner’s semi-autobiographical graphic novel, into a play, and she was no closer to her goal. At the time, around 2007, Heller had zero writing or directing credits to her name. But she was convinced that Gloeckner’s story, about a 15-year-old testing the limits of her sexual desires in 1970s San Francisco, was one that she wanted to tell. So she busted out the nuclear option.
“I...
“I...
- 2/22/2021
- by Jenna Scherer
- Rollingstone.com
Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for upcoming awards. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four phases, running all year long: Draft, Pre-Season, Regular Season and Post Season. Eligibility calendar and dates of awards will determine how long each phase lasts and will be displayed next to revision date.
To see all the latest predictions, of all the categories, in one place, visit The Collective
Draft>>>Pre Season>>>Regular Season>>>Post Season
2021 Golden Globe Predictions:
Best Actress In A Limited Series Or TV Movie
Updated: Jan. 14, 2021
Awards Commentary:
Superstars Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett will face off with up-and-comers like Anya Taylor-Joy, Shira Haas and Michaela Coel in an extremely competitive category for best actress in a limited series or TV movie. Kidman is an HFPA favorite, having won four Globes as a performer — including this category for “Big Little Lies.” But last year, HFPA made...
To see all the latest predictions, of all the categories, in one place, visit The Collective
Draft>>>Pre Season>>>Regular Season>>>Post Season
2021 Golden Globe Predictions:
Best Actress In A Limited Series Or TV Movie
Updated: Jan. 14, 2021
Awards Commentary:
Superstars Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett will face off with up-and-comers like Anya Taylor-Joy, Shira Haas and Michaela Coel in an extremely competitive category for best actress in a limited series or TV movie. Kidman is an HFPA favorite, having won four Globes as a performer — including this category for “Big Little Lies.” But last year, HFPA made...
- 1/15/2021
- by Michael Schneider
- Variety Film + TV
More than 200 theater writers – playwrights, composers, lyricists, librettists – have joined a nationwide letter writing campaign urging the incoming Biden-Harris Administration to prioritize its commitment to an arts community ravaged by Covid-19. Among other goals, many of the letters urge the administration to create a Department and Secretary of Arts & Culture.
Organized by the non-partisan grassroots coalition Be An #ArtsHero in partnership with The Dramatists Guild of America, the “Dear Mr. President and Madam Vice President” campaign asserts that “the Arts are vital to our nation’s soul and our collective humanity, as well as being an essential driver of the economy.”
Among those writing letters: Jeremy O. Harris (Slave Play), Anaïs Mitchell (Hadestown), Heidi Schreck (What The Constitution Means To Me) as well as V (formerly Eve Ensler), Craig Lucas, Theresa Rebeck, Sarah Ruhl, Marsha Norman, Lynn Ahrens, Zakiyyah Alexander, Jaclyn Backhaus, Bekah Brunstetter, Carla Ching, Vichet Chum, Paul Downs Colaizzo,...
Organized by the non-partisan grassroots coalition Be An #ArtsHero in partnership with The Dramatists Guild of America, the “Dear Mr. President and Madam Vice President” campaign asserts that “the Arts are vital to our nation’s soul and our collective humanity, as well as being an essential driver of the economy.”
Among those writing letters: Jeremy O. Harris (Slave Play), Anaïs Mitchell (Hadestown), Heidi Schreck (What The Constitution Means To Me) as well as V (formerly Eve Ensler), Craig Lucas, Theresa Rebeck, Sarah Ruhl, Marsha Norman, Lynn Ahrens, Zakiyyah Alexander, Jaclyn Backhaus, Bekah Brunstetter, Carla Ching, Vichet Chum, Paul Downs Colaizzo,...
- 1/14/2021
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Mini-studio, Level Forward has acquired North American virtual theatrical rights and impact distribution privileges for “I’ll Meet You There,” a portrait of three generations of a Muslim-American family. The company will roll out the film from Feb. 3, 2021.
The film was one of ten chosen from 1,305 submissions for SXSW’s narrative feature competition earlier this year before the spread of the coronavirus pandemic forced the festival’s cancelation.
It was directed by Pakistani-American filmmaker Iram Parveen Bilal, who made her feature debut with the acclaimed “Josh” that played the international festival circuit in 2013.
“I’ll Meet You There” follows Majeed, a Chicago policeman, and his teenage daughter Dua, a gifted ballerina, who are unexpectedly visited by Baba, Majeed’s long-estranged father from Pakistan. Majeed is given a career-making opportunity that he can’t turn down, but it requires him to use his father’s help to gain access to the local mosque,...
The film was one of ten chosen from 1,305 submissions for SXSW’s narrative feature competition earlier this year before the spread of the coronavirus pandemic forced the festival’s cancelation.
It was directed by Pakistani-American filmmaker Iram Parveen Bilal, who made her feature debut with the acclaimed “Josh” that played the international festival circuit in 2013.
“I’ll Meet You There” follows Majeed, a Chicago policeman, and his teenage daughter Dua, a gifted ballerina, who are unexpectedly visited by Baba, Majeed’s long-estranged father from Pakistan. Majeed is given a career-making opportunity that he can’t turn down, but it requires him to use his father’s help to gain access to the local mosque,...
- 12/17/2020
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
One major question in any filmed theatrical production is how much to replicate the experience of seeing the original work on the stage. Or if that’s even possible at all. In that sense, there’s a kind of democratic approach in “What the Constitution Means to Me.”
The Heidi Schreck-written play is an incredibly personal look at how the founding document’s legacy has echoed throughout both her family and the country overall. Before the show’s Broadway run came to an end in late August of last year, director Marielle Heller filmed two performances and a rehearsal of the work. The result, a full-length production now available to stream on Amazon Prime Video, preserves not only Schreck’s performance, but the emotional atmosphere that surrounded everyone who was seeing it in person those nights.
Aside from being Schreck’s longtime friend, Heller had been through a similar...
The Heidi Schreck-written play is an incredibly personal look at how the founding document’s legacy has echoed throughout both her family and the country overall. Before the show’s Broadway run came to an end in late August of last year, director Marielle Heller filmed two performances and a rehearsal of the work. The result, a full-length production now available to stream on Amazon Prime Video, preserves not only Schreck’s performance, but the emotional atmosphere that surrounded everyone who was seeing it in person those nights.
Aside from being Schreck’s longtime friend, Heller had been through a similar...
- 12/2/2020
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
Heidi Schreck brings her Tony Award-winning Broadway play, "What the Constitution Means to Me" to Amazon Prime Video. While we were taught that "all men are created equal" under the Constitution, a closer look at the document reveals women and people of color don't have equal rights. CineMovie talks to Heidi about her eye-opening show and what the Amy Coney Barrett appointment to the Supreme Court means for America. ...
- 11/5/2020
- by luperhaas@cinemovie.tv (Lupe R Haas)
- CineMovie
Succession‘s Juliana Canfield, WandaVision‘s Kathryn Hahn, Messiah‘s Emily Kinney, Moulin Rouge!‘s Sahr Ngaujah, and Jesus Christ Superstar: Live in Concert‘s Joel Perez have joined the line-up for tonight’s Act Out: Vote2020, a get-out-the-vote online event featuring short monologues and songs that team prominent playwrights with an all-star cast.
Among the offerings: The Letter by Lynn Nottage starring Sandra Oh, Mr. Morrow Comes to Tally by Tarell Alvin McCraney with Brian Tyree Henry; Two Girlfriends on Zoom by Jocelyn Bioh with Yvette Nicole Brown and Dis Is Your Fathah by Ngozi Anyanwu with Sahr Ngaujah.
See the full line-up below.
“Voting matters for every election but this November 3rd is even more important,” said two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Nottage, who presents the event with The Walking Dead actress and playwright Danai Gurira and The Inheritance director Stephen Daldry. “We believe that if the entire theatrical...
Among the offerings: The Letter by Lynn Nottage starring Sandra Oh, Mr. Morrow Comes to Tally by Tarell Alvin McCraney with Brian Tyree Henry; Two Girlfriends on Zoom by Jocelyn Bioh with Yvette Nicole Brown and Dis Is Your Fathah by Ngozi Anyanwu with Sahr Ngaujah.
See the full line-up below.
“Voting matters for every election but this November 3rd is even more important,” said two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Nottage, who presents the event with The Walking Dead actress and playwright Danai Gurira and The Inheritance director Stephen Daldry. “We believe that if the entire theatrical...
- 10/29/2020
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
As a director, Marielle Heller has been on a tear, with her first three theatrical releases — “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” (2019), “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” (2018) and “The Diary of a Teenage Girl” (2015) — garnering praise from critics, appreciation from audiences and Oscar nominations for Tom Hanks, Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant.
This month, Heller’s two latest projects, her filmed version of Heidi Schreck’s play “What the Constitution Means to Me,” and her acting turn in Scott Frank’s limited series “The Queen’s Gambit,” have debuted on just about the only thing we have these days: streaming services. “The Queen’s Gambit,” starring Anya Taylor-Joy as a chess prodigy, is now on Netflix; “What the Constitution Means to Me” premiered on Amazon on Oct. 16 — just in time for the uproar over the Amy Coney Barrett confirmation.
Heller was an actor before she switched to directing, which is how she got to know Schreck.
This month, Heller’s two latest projects, her filmed version of Heidi Schreck’s play “What the Constitution Means to Me,” and her acting turn in Scott Frank’s limited series “The Queen’s Gambit,” have debuted on just about the only thing we have these days: streaming services. “The Queen’s Gambit,” starring Anya Taylor-Joy as a chess prodigy, is now on Netflix; “What the Constitution Means to Me” premiered on Amazon on Oct. 16 — just in time for the uproar over the Amy Coney Barrett confirmation.
Heller was an actor before she switched to directing, which is how she got to know Schreck.
- 10/27/2020
- by Kate Aurthur
- Variety Film + TV
As the long-term ramifications of 2020 continue to unfold, it’s fascinating to watch how different facets of the entertainment industry adapt, specifically to the adoption of streaming services and alternate distribution models. For some facets, little has changed. Music, for instance, has been working out how to exist primarily in virtual spaces for decades, thanks to Napster and the like. TV and film weren’t far behind, though the latter has struggled this year, both financially and, perhaps, psychologically, with the loss of physical movie theaters. But few cultural endeavors have been as fundamentally shaken as live theater, where Broadway has been shuttered since mid-March and will remain so until at least January 2021.
And while there have long been ways to experience live theater outside of the whole live thing — PBS’ “Great Performances” has been tirelessly working a variation of this beat for nigh on 50 years — Broadway has faced criticism...
And while there have long been ways to experience live theater outside of the whole live thing — PBS’ “Great Performances” has been tirelessly working a variation of this beat for nigh on 50 years — Broadway has faced criticism...
- 10/21/2020
- by Libby Hill
- Indiewire
Ten minutes into What the Constitution Means to Me, writer and performer Heidi Schreck is teaching the audience the word “penumbra”: “Here I am, standing in the light,” Schreck says from the front of the stage, “and there you are, sitting in the darkness. This space between us, this space right here of partial illumination, this shadowy space right here: This is the penumbra.”
It’s a word you’ll never forget after seeing this show. “Penumbra” is how Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas described the Ninth Amendment...
It’s a word you’ll never forget after seeing this show. “Penumbra” is how Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas described the Ninth Amendment...
- 10/18/2020
- by Hannah Murphy
- Rollingstone.com
The sheer range of genres represented by this week’s new releases — from Liam Neeson thriller “Honest Thief” to romantic weepie “2 Hearts” — suggests that distributors of all kinds are doing their best to give audiences the kind of selection they enjoyed before the lockdown.
Well, nearly all kinds of distributors.
The major studios are still playing it safe and holding their tentpoles for a time when they can pack the megaplexes, although Paramount has stepped in with a fun post-apocalyptic adventure, “Love and Monsters,” which goes straight to PVOD, and Sony picked up an unconventional neo-noir called “The Kid Detective” out of the Toronto Film Festival that sneaks into theaters today. Pre-Halloween horror offerings continue, as Amazon Prime releases two more titles in its Welcome to the Blumhouse series: “Evil Eye” and “Nocturne.”
Art-houses land a major title in 2019 Venice Film Festival winner “Martin Eden,” an Italian adaptation of the Jack London novel.
Well, nearly all kinds of distributors.
The major studios are still playing it safe and holding their tentpoles for a time when they can pack the megaplexes, although Paramount has stepped in with a fun post-apocalyptic adventure, “Love and Monsters,” which goes straight to PVOD, and Sony picked up an unconventional neo-noir called “The Kid Detective” out of the Toronto Film Festival that sneaks into theaters today. Pre-Halloween horror offerings continue, as Amazon Prime releases two more titles in its Welcome to the Blumhouse series: “Evil Eye” and “Nocturne.”
Art-houses land a major title in 2019 Venice Film Festival winner “Martin Eden,” an Italian adaptation of the Jack London novel.
- 10/16/2020
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
At the start of the filmed version of “What the Constitution Means to Me,” playwright and performer Heidi Schreck says that every time she walks out on stage, “the world has changed. I never quite know what’s going to happen.”
These days, that feels like an understatement.
Schreck first started workshopping the project, which connects her personal family history to the U.S. Constitution and eventually ends in a debate over whether to keep or abolish the famed document, in 2008, during Barack Obama’s presidential administration. It wasn’t until almost a decade later that she had her completed version, adding the end-cap debate in 2017. She performed the play during the height of the #MeToo movement, including the Brett Kavanaugh hearings. It was on Broadway, nominated for a Tony and was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize. Now, through Amazon Prime Video, she has a global platform for the...
These days, that feels like an understatement.
Schreck first started workshopping the project, which connects her personal family history to the U.S. Constitution and eventually ends in a debate over whether to keep or abolish the famed document, in 2008, during Barack Obama’s presidential administration. It wasn’t until almost a decade later that she had her completed version, adding the end-cap debate in 2017. She performed the play during the height of the #MeToo movement, including the Brett Kavanaugh hearings. It was on Broadway, nominated for a Tony and was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize. Now, through Amazon Prime Video, she has a global platform for the...
- 10/16/2020
- by Danielle Turchiano
- Variety Film + TV
by Christopher James
One of my favorite theater going experiences ever was seeing What the Constitution Means to Me off Broadway last fall. Writer/performer Heidi Schreck had such a knack for involving the audience in her exhilarating look at the role of the Constitution in our lives. By the end of the show, it felt like we were working with her in devising a new and more perfect solution. This level of intimacy and audience engagement seemed almost impossible to replicate with the remove of film. Luckily, director extraordinaire Marielle Heller was tasked with recording the production during its final week at the Helen Hayes Theater on Broadway. Heller continues her impressive streak, delivering another hit...
One of my favorite theater going experiences ever was seeing What the Constitution Means to Me off Broadway last fall. Writer/performer Heidi Schreck had such a knack for involving the audience in her exhilarating look at the role of the Constitution in our lives. By the end of the show, it felt like we were working with her in devising a new and more perfect solution. This level of intimacy and audience engagement seemed almost impossible to replicate with the remove of film. Luckily, director extraordinaire Marielle Heller was tasked with recording the production during its final week at the Helen Hayes Theater on Broadway. Heller continues her impressive streak, delivering another hit...
- 10/16/2020
- by Christopher James
- FilmExperience
In high school, 15-year-old Heidi Schreck won enough prize money giving Constitution-themed speeches at American Legion halls to pay her way through college. A quarter-century later, Schreck spun her memories of all that youthful idealism into a hit Broadway show, “What the Constitution Means to Me,” which has proven to be every bit as much a “living, breathing document” as its subject since its 2019 debut at the Hayes Theater.
No doubt, in teaming with “The Diary of a Teenage Girl” director Marielle Heller to release a filmed version of her show on Oct. 16, she hoped that her words might impact the 2020 presidential election. What Schreck couldn’t have imagined is that the same week the special dropped on Amazon Prime, Senate lawmakers would be posing that very question to Donald Trump’s latest Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, asking this female “originalist” what the Constitution means to her.
Like her mentor Antonin Scalia,...
No doubt, in teaming with “The Diary of a Teenage Girl” director Marielle Heller to release a filmed version of her show on Oct. 16, she hoped that her words might impact the 2020 presidential election. What Schreck couldn’t have imagined is that the same week the special dropped on Amazon Prime, Senate lawmakers would be posing that very question to Donald Trump’s latest Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, asking this female “originalist” what the Constitution means to her.
Like her mentor Antonin Scalia,...
- 10/15/2020
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
“See the whole board,” a chess-instructing Martin Sheen’s President Josiah Bartlet tells Rob Lowe’s Sam Seaborn in HBO Max’s A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote.
Originally uttered in 2002’s “Hartsfield’s Landing” episode of the multiple Emmy winning political drama, the Aaron Sorkin penned words hang heavy in the digital air during these final weeks before this year’s election. Filmed in recent weeks at downtown L.A.’s Orpheum Theatre, this newly visually streamlined version of “Hartsfield’s Landing” is a pretty easy sell that also provides a welcome relief and sobering reminder when language mattered and presidents were presidential, at least on network TV.
One of my favorite series of all time and much munched TV comfort food over the years, the West Wing in 2020 is a remarkable throwback to a now distant era in more ways than one. Amidst the get out the vote buoying,...
Originally uttered in 2002’s “Hartsfield’s Landing” episode of the multiple Emmy winning political drama, the Aaron Sorkin penned words hang heavy in the digital air during these final weeks before this year’s election. Filmed in recent weeks at downtown L.A.’s Orpheum Theatre, this newly visually streamlined version of “Hartsfield’s Landing” is a pretty easy sell that also provides a welcome relief and sobering reminder when language mattered and presidents were presidential, at least on network TV.
One of my favorite series of all time and much munched TV comfort food over the years, the West Wing in 2020 is a remarkable throwback to a now distant era in more ways than one. Amidst the get out the vote buoying,...
- 10/15/2020
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
In today’s TV news roundup, Netflix announced a premiere date for “Paranormal,” and Epix greenlit a political documentary series based on Leon Neyfakh’s “Fiasco” podcast with plans to debut the show in 2021.
Dates
The first season of Netflix‘s upcoming thriller “Paranormal” will premiere on Nov. 5 in 190 countries, the streamer announced Monday. It will also be dubbed in nine languages and is the first Netflix Arabic Original from Egypt to include audio and visual descriptions for viewers with hearing or visual impairments. The series stars Ahmed Amin as Dr. Refaat Ismail, a 1960s scientist who begins to question what he thinks he knows as paranormal events begin to unravel around him. It is created by director Amr Salama, who executive produces alongside Mohamed Hefzy. Majid Alansari also directs for the series. Watch a teaser for “Paranormal” below.
“Chrisley Knows Best” and “Miz and Mrs” will both return to USA Network on Nov.
Dates
The first season of Netflix‘s upcoming thriller “Paranormal” will premiere on Nov. 5 in 190 countries, the streamer announced Monday. It will also be dubbed in nine languages and is the first Netflix Arabic Original from Egypt to include audio and visual descriptions for viewers with hearing or visual impairments. The series stars Ahmed Amin as Dr. Refaat Ismail, a 1960s scientist who begins to question what he thinks he knows as paranormal events begin to unravel around him. It is created by director Amr Salama, who executive produces alongside Mohamed Hefzy. Majid Alansari also directs for the series. Watch a teaser for “Paranormal” below.
“Chrisley Knows Best” and “Miz and Mrs” will both return to USA Network on Nov.
- 10/5/2020
- by Eli Countryman
- Variety Film + TV
The official trailer for What the Constitution Means to Me, a filmed version of the critically-acclaimed, award-winning play created by and starring Heidi Schreck, is available now. The special will premiere Oct. 16, 2020, exclusively on Amazon Prime Video, in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide. In the final, record-breaking week of its hit Broadway run, director Marielle Heller director of Oscar-nominated films A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood and Can You Ever Forgive Me captured the play at the Helen Hayes Theater in New York City.
- 10/5/2020
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
The scary month of Halloween is here!
October brings new Amazon Original Movies, Series, and Specials including the family-friendly Bug Diaries Halloween Special; Chasing the Crown: Dreamers to Streamers, a reality competition series from Prime Gaming; Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty Show, Vol. 2 special; What the Constitution Means to Me, Heidi Schreck’s acclaimed Broadway show translated to film; Time (2020), a documentary following a matriarch’s fight for her husband’s release from prison; season 2 of crime drama Mirzapur; Spanish historical docu-series The Challenge: Eta; and the premieres of Truth Seekers, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost’s newest comedy horror series, and Sons of the Soil, a sports docu-series following the Jaipur Pink Panthers.
Prime members can also enjoy movies new to Prime including Academy award-winners such as The Departed (2006), the Martin Scorsese directed crime drama and The Pianist (2003) starring Adrien Broday. In addition to thrilling action and adventure flicks,...
October brings new Amazon Original Movies, Series, and Specials including the family-friendly Bug Diaries Halloween Special; Chasing the Crown: Dreamers to Streamers, a reality competition series from Prime Gaming; Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty Show, Vol. 2 special; What the Constitution Means to Me, Heidi Schreck’s acclaimed Broadway show translated to film; Time (2020), a documentary following a matriarch’s fight for her husband’s release from prison; season 2 of crime drama Mirzapur; Spanish historical docu-series The Challenge: Eta; and the premieres of Truth Seekers, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost’s newest comedy horror series, and Sons of the Soil, a sports docu-series following the Jaipur Pink Panthers.
Prime members can also enjoy movies new to Prime including Academy award-winners such as The Departed (2006), the Martin Scorsese directed crime drama and The Pianist (2003) starring Adrien Broday. In addition to thrilling action and adventure flicks,...
- 10/5/2020
- by Michelle Hannett
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The Ott screen is the new cinema hall -- at least for now till cinemas remain shut. So, when it comes to original film releases, streaming platforms are going all out with fresh options in the festive months.
While the influx of direct-to-ott film releases continues, Ott platforms have also lined up own original films. Here's the content you can look forward over the next few months.
Tribhanga
Kajol enters the digital space with the film, which is a Mumbai-set drama for global streaming giant, Netflix. The film will weave a complex story of a family while going back and forth through three generations, from the late 1980s to present day. The film, directed and written by veteran actress Renuka Shahane, also stars Tanvi Azmi and Mithila Palkar. Release date is yet to be announced.
Ak Vs Ak
Featuring Anil Kapoor and Anurag Kashyap, it is directed by Vikramaditya Motwane.
While the influx of direct-to-ott film releases continues, Ott platforms have also lined up own original films. Here's the content you can look forward over the next few months.
Tribhanga
Kajol enters the digital space with the film, which is a Mumbai-set drama for global streaming giant, Netflix. The film will weave a complex story of a family while going back and forth through three generations, from the late 1980s to present day. The film, directed and written by veteran actress Renuka Shahane, also stars Tanvi Azmi and Mithila Palkar. Release date is yet to be announced.
Ak Vs Ak
Featuring Anil Kapoor and Anurag Kashyap, it is directed by Vikramaditya Motwane.
- 9/22/2020
- by Glamsham Editorial
- GlamSham
A live capture of Heidi Schreck’s Tony-nominated play, What the Constitution Means to Me, will premiere October 16th on Amazon Prime Video.
The recording was made during the final week of the show’s Broadway run at the Helen Hayes Theater in 2019. Oscar-nominated director Marielle Heller (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Can You Ever Forgive Me?) helmed the project. Schreck was Tony Award-nominated for both the play and her performance.
What the Constitution Means to Me is centered around a string of Constitutional debate competitions Schreck’s won...
The recording was made during the final week of the show’s Broadway run at the Helen Hayes Theater in 2019. Oscar-nominated director Marielle Heller (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Can You Ever Forgive Me?) helmed the project. Schreck was Tony Award-nominated for both the play and her performance.
What the Constitution Means to Me is centered around a string of Constitutional debate competitions Schreck’s won...
- 9/17/2020
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
A filmed version of the critically-acclaimed, award-winning play What the Constitution Means to Me, created by and starring Heidi Schreck, will premiere Oct. 16, 2020, exclusively on Amazon Prime Video, in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide. In the final, record-breaking week of its hit Broadway run, director Marielle Heller director of Oscar-nominated films A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood and Can You Ever Forgive Me captured the play at the Helen Hayes Theater.
- 9/17/2020
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Heidi Schreck’s award-winning play “What the Constitution Means to Me” will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on Oct. 16.
Marielle Heller directed the filmed version of the show, which was recorded in the final week of its Broadway run at the Helen Hayes Theater. It will debut in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.
Schreck also inked an overall deal with to create content that will premiere exclusively on Prime Video.
“I’m delighted with how beautifully Mari Heller has translated Constitution to the screen and I’m thankful to Big Beach and Amazon Studios for making it possible to share the show with more people — especially right now when we can’t gather together in theaters,” Schreck said in a statement. “In light of the moment we are living through, I am donating part of my proceeds from this film to the Broadway Cares Covid Relief Fund and to...
Marielle Heller directed the filmed version of the show, which was recorded in the final week of its Broadway run at the Helen Hayes Theater. It will debut in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.
Schreck also inked an overall deal with to create content that will premiere exclusively on Prime Video.
“I’m delighted with how beautifully Mari Heller has translated Constitution to the screen and I’m thankful to Big Beach and Amazon Studios for making it possible to share the show with more people — especially right now when we can’t gather together in theaters,” Schreck said in a statement. “In light of the moment we are living through, I am donating part of my proceeds from this film to the Broadway Cares Covid Relief Fund and to...
- 9/17/2020
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
A filmed version of Heidi Schreck’s acclaimed, Tony-nominated Broadway play What the Constitution Means to Me will premiere Oct. 16 exclusively on Amazon Prime Video, the streamer said today in announcing a new overall deal with the playwright-actress.
The Amazon Studios deal will have Schreck creating content that will premiere exclusively on Prime Video.
The 2019 Broadway production was filmed during its final week at the Helen Hayes Theater by director Marielle Heller (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood and Can You Ever Forgive Me?). The Oct. 16 debut on Amazon Prime will be available in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.
The play – not quite a one-woman show, but very nearly – features Schreck as she recounts her teenage, tuition-paying fascination with Constitutional debate competitions. A Pulitzer Prize finalist, Constitution uses both comedy and intense personal reflection to chart the impact the founding document has had on four generations of women in Schreck’s family.
The Amazon Studios deal will have Schreck creating content that will premiere exclusively on Prime Video.
The 2019 Broadway production was filmed during its final week at the Helen Hayes Theater by director Marielle Heller (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood and Can You Ever Forgive Me?). The Oct. 16 debut on Amazon Prime will be available in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.
The play – not quite a one-woman show, but very nearly – features Schreck as she recounts her teenage, tuition-paying fascination with Constitutional debate competitions. A Pulitzer Prize finalist, Constitution uses both comedy and intense personal reflection to chart the impact the founding document has had on four generations of women in Schreck’s family.
- 9/17/2020
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.