Dove Cameron (Descendants, Schmigadoon!) and Avan Jogia (Orphan Black: Echoes) teaming up is our new Obsession.
The pair will star in Prime Video’s upcoming thriller from executive producer James Wan’s Atomic Monster, which was given a series order last year.
More from TVLineCeline Dion Opens Up About Health Troubles in Emotional Documentary Trailer - WatchTVLine Items: My Next Guest Renewed, Munsters Reboot and MoreNurse Jackie Sequel Series Starring Edie Falco in the Works at Prime Video
Based on Catherine Ryan Howard’s international best-selling novel 56 Days, the story centers on Jogia’s Oliver and Cameron’s Ciara who,...
The pair will star in Prime Video’s upcoming thriller from executive producer James Wan’s Atomic Monster, which was given a series order last year.
More from TVLineCeline Dion Opens Up About Health Troubles in Emotional Documentary Trailer - WatchTVLine Items: My Next Guest Renewed, Munsters Reboot and MoreNurse Jackie Sequel Series Starring Edie Falco in the Works at Prime Video
Based on Catherine Ryan Howard’s international best-selling novel 56 Days, the story centers on Jogia’s Oliver and Cameron’s Ciara who,...
- 5/23/2024
- by Keisha Hatchett
- TVLine.com
Exclusive: Peacock’s new comedy series Laid is rounding out its cast with 8 guest stars: Andre Hyland (Barry), Olivia Holt (Totally Killer), David Denman (The Office), Finneas O’Connell (Academy Award and Grammy Winning Singer/Songwriter), Chloe Fineman (SNL), Indya Moore (Pose), Ettore “Big E” Ewen (WWE Superstar) and John Early (Would it Kill You to Laugh).
Laid is executive produced by Stephanie Hsu, who also stars alongside Zosia Mamet, Michael Angarano and Tommy Martinez.
Laid follows a woman who finds out her former lovers are dying in unusual ways and must go back through her sex timeline to confront her past to move forward. It’s described as a f*cked-up rom-com where the answer to “Why can’t I find love, is there something wrong with me?” is a resounding: “Yes, there is. The problem is definitely you.”
The series is written and executive produced by Nahnatchka Khan and Sally Bradford McKenna (Son of Zorn). Also executive producing are John Davis and John Fox for Davis Entertainment; Jennifer Carreras for Fierce Baby; Marieke Hardy, Kirsty Fisher, and Liz Watts for Porchlight Films; and All3Media International.
Laid hails from Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, and is based on the Australian series of the same name created by Marieke Hardy and Kirsty Fisher and produced by Liz Watts.
Denman is represented by UTA and Berwick & Kovacik management; Early is represented by UTA and Rise management; Ewen is represented by Buchwald and Bad Toro management; Fineman is represented by CAA and Nicole Garcia Management; Holt is represented by WME and Entertainment 360; Hyland is represented by Mosaic management and Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer; Moore is represented by CAA, Stride Management, and Del Shaw; O’Connell is represented by WME.
Laid is executive produced by Stephanie Hsu, who also stars alongside Zosia Mamet, Michael Angarano and Tommy Martinez.
Laid follows a woman who finds out her former lovers are dying in unusual ways and must go back through her sex timeline to confront her past to move forward. It’s described as a f*cked-up rom-com where the answer to “Why can’t I find love, is there something wrong with me?” is a resounding: “Yes, there is. The problem is definitely you.”
The series is written and executive produced by Nahnatchka Khan and Sally Bradford McKenna (Son of Zorn). Also executive producing are John Davis and John Fox for Davis Entertainment; Jennifer Carreras for Fierce Baby; Marieke Hardy, Kirsty Fisher, and Liz Watts for Porchlight Films; and All3Media International.
Laid hails from Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, and is based on the Australian series of the same name created by Marieke Hardy and Kirsty Fisher and produced by Liz Watts.
Denman is represented by UTA and Berwick & Kovacik management; Early is represented by UTA and Rise management; Ewen is represented by Buchwald and Bad Toro management; Fineman is represented by CAA and Nicole Garcia Management; Holt is represented by WME and Entertainment 360; Hyland is represented by Mosaic management and Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer; Moore is represented by CAA, Stride Management, and Del Shaw; O’Connell is represented by WME.
- 5/22/2024
- by Rosy Cordero
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: The Gotham Film & Media Institute (The Gotham) announced today the 2024 fellows for the Festival De Cannes Producers Network Program. They are Deidre Backs (Fancy Dance), Apoorva Guru Charan (Joyland), Gabriel Mayers (A Different Man), Jhane Myers (Prey), Giancarlo Nasi (The Settlers), Stephanie Roush (Stress Positions), and Pierce Varous (The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed). This year’s Producers Network Fellows will be participating in person at Cannes, May 15 – 20.
As the sole U.S. Partner Organization for the Festival de Cannes Producers Network, The Gotham annually selects U.S. fiction and nonfiction producers to participate. Running concurrently with the Cannes Film Festival and the Marche du Film, the program is specifically designed for experienced producers to build up their international networks and learn more about international production, financing, legal and packaging.
In addition, The Gotham is proud to support the Gotham Edu partners Colgate University...
As the sole U.S. Partner Organization for the Festival de Cannes Producers Network, The Gotham annually selects U.S. fiction and nonfiction producers to participate. Running concurrently with the Cannes Film Festival and the Marche du Film, the program is specifically designed for experienced producers to build up their international networks and learn more about international production, financing, legal and packaging.
In addition, The Gotham is proud to support the Gotham Edu partners Colgate University...
- 5/9/2024
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Bodkin is a dark comedy crime-drama series created by Jez Scharf. The Netflix series is set in the fictional town of Bodkin in Ireland. It follows the story of an American podcaster Gilbert, a London-based investigative journalist Dove, and a researcher Emmy as they investigate a decades-old disappearance of three young people on the night of the Samhain festival. Bodkin stars Will Forte, Siobhán Cullen, and Robyn Cara in the lead roles with David Wilmot, Chris Walley, Seán Óg, Peter Bankole, and Kerri McLean starring in supporting roles. If you loved the dark humor and thrills of a murder investigation in Bodkin here are some similar shows you could watch next.
Only Murders in the Building (Hulu) Credit – Hulu
Only Murders in the Building is a murder mystery comedy-drama series created by Steve Martin and John Hoffman. The Hulu series follows a trio of strangers who share the love of...
Only Murders in the Building (Hulu) Credit – Hulu
Only Murders in the Building is a murder mystery comedy-drama series created by Steve Martin and John Hoffman. The Hulu series follows a trio of strangers who share the love of...
- 5/9/2024
- by Kulwant Singh
- Cinema Blind
Nathan Zellner and David Zellner’s Sasquatch Sunset is stomping into circa 850 theaters this weekend after debuting in 9 with a solid opening for a film many could find weird. A tribe of Sasquatch, possibly the last of their kind, live and love in the woods of northern California, where it was shot.
“We are taking Bigfoot to America. We have high hopes that the broader market will embrace the movie,” says Kyle Davies of distributor Bleecker Street, calling it “a very different” kind of movie and “a bit of an unknown.”
“It’s a wildcard.”
Marketing was mainly through social activations. “I wouldn’t call it traditional marketing. It doesn’t really fit in that box,” Davies adds. The Sasquatch standees in theaters are fun. And Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar is displaying a baby Sasquatch sitting in a glass case with umbilical cord and placenta.
This is “a polarizing film.
“We are taking Bigfoot to America. We have high hopes that the broader market will embrace the movie,” says Kyle Davies of distributor Bleecker Street, calling it “a very different” kind of movie and “a bit of an unknown.”
“It’s a wildcard.”
Marketing was mainly through social activations. “I wouldn’t call it traditional marketing. It doesn’t really fit in that box,” Davies adds. The Sasquatch standees in theaters are fun. And Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar is displaying a baby Sasquatch sitting in a glass case with umbilical cord and placenta.
This is “a polarizing film.
- 4/19/2024
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
First-time feature director Theda Hammel looks straight into the sun of the Covid summer of 2020 — PPE, GrubHub, lazy liberal gesturing, and all — with “Stress Positions.”
The Brooklyn screwball comedy, set around the Fourth of July weekend that year, asks us to relive the days of sheltering in place and banging pots and pans in solidarity with healthcare workers while doing little else but navel-gazing at our own misfortune indoors. With a chatty ensemble led by John Early as Terry, a gaping wound of an idler reeling from a herniated disc and an ongoing breakup with his husband, “Stress Positions” sounds on paper like the coronavirus indie we’d like to ignore so as not to re-traumatize ourselves. But where many of the Covid-reacting films we saw spin out of 2020 were tethered to Zoom, “Stress Positions” goes straight into the “hell mouth” of the moments lived off Zoom.
IndieWire spoke with Early and Thammel over,...
The Brooklyn screwball comedy, set around the Fourth of July weekend that year, asks us to relive the days of sheltering in place and banging pots and pans in solidarity with healthcare workers while doing little else but navel-gazing at our own misfortune indoors. With a chatty ensemble led by John Early as Terry, a gaping wound of an idler reeling from a herniated disc and an ongoing breakup with his husband, “Stress Positions” sounds on paper like the coronavirus indie we’d like to ignore so as not to re-traumatize ourselves. But where many of the Covid-reacting films we saw spin out of 2020 were tethered to Zoom, “Stress Positions” goes straight into the “hell mouth” of the moments lived off Zoom.
IndieWire spoke with Early and Thammel over,...
- 4/17/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Theda Hammel and John Early on the set of Stress PositionsImage: Photos courtesy of Neon
Do you remember the summer of 2020? You might not want to, but unless you’re particularly gifted at repressing memories, you mostly likely do. It was a season of fear, of paranoia, of guilt. It...
Do you remember the summer of 2020? You might not want to, but unless you’re particularly gifted at repressing memories, you mostly likely do. It was a season of fear, of paranoia, of guilt. It...
- 4/17/2024
- by Drew Gillis
- avclub.com
25 years ago “Strangers with Candy,” currently streaming on Paramount+, premiered on Comedy Central from the brains of Stephen Colbert, Paul Dinello, Mitch Rouse, and Amy Sedaris. Sedaris also starred as Jerri Blank, the 46-year-old bisexual junkie returning to high school as a freshman. The sitcom was structured like an after-school special with Jerri rarely learning from her past mistakes as she navigates the lessons of being a teenager all over again. I began watching the show in college, after recognizing it from flipping through the TV channels because Sedaris’ Jerri in passing freaked me out.
Its psychotic humor coupled with my own favorite genre — the high school comedy — was a perfect cyanide comedy cocktail. Aggressively offensive with an earnest heart of gold, “Strangers with Candy” was unlike anything I’d ever seen before and Amy Sedaris became my comedy hero.
It’s, frankly, a miracle that “Strangers with Candy” was made,...
Its psychotic humor coupled with my own favorite genre — the high school comedy — was a perfect cyanide comedy cocktail. Aggressively offensive with an earnest heart of gold, “Strangers with Candy” was unlike anything I’d ever seen before and Amy Sedaris became my comedy hero.
It’s, frankly, a miracle that “Strangers with Candy” was made,...
- 4/12/2024
- by Kerensa Cadenas
- Indiewire
Looking for bold new work from first- and second-time feature filmmakers? Look no further than New Directors/New Films, the premier New York City festival that annually highlights them.
Now in its 53rd edition, New Directors/New Films returns to New York April 3 through 14 from Film at Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art, bringing the best of the fests so far to audiences eager for discovery. This year’s festival is bookended by Aaron Schimberg’s opening night entry “A Different Man,” starring Sebastian Stan as an actor who unravels after a facial reconstruction surgery, and Theda Hammel’s “Stress Positions,” an anxiety-inducing Covid lockdown comedy starring John Early. Both films premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, whose Dramatic Competition gem “Good One,” a coming-of-age drama set around a derailed camping trip and directed by India Donaldson, also features at New Directors.
Also premiering at the festival is Sundance favorite “Exhibiting Forgiveness,...
Now in its 53rd edition, New Directors/New Films returns to New York April 3 through 14 from Film at Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art, bringing the best of the fests so far to audiences eager for discovery. This year’s festival is bookended by Aaron Schimberg’s opening night entry “A Different Man,” starring Sebastian Stan as an actor who unravels after a facial reconstruction surgery, and Theda Hammel’s “Stress Positions,” an anxiety-inducing Covid lockdown comedy starring John Early. Both films premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, whose Dramatic Competition gem “Good One,” a coming-of-age drama set around a derailed camping trip and directed by India Donaldson, also features at New Directors.
Also premiering at the festival is Sundance favorite “Exhibiting Forgiveness,...
- 4/2/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
“Stress Positions” is a new live-action comedy feature, directed by Theda Hammel, starring John Early, Hammel, Qaher Harhash, Amy Zimmer, Faheem Ali, Rebecca F. Wright, Davidson Obennebo and John Roberts, releasing April 19, 2024 in theaters:
“…during the early months of the pandemic in Brooklyn, a young man named ‘Bahlul’ (Qaher Harhash) recovers from a broken leg while quarantining with his uncle ‘Terry’ …”
Click the images to enlarge…...
“…during the early months of the pandemic in Brooklyn, a young man named ‘Bahlul’ (Qaher Harhash) recovers from a broken leg while quarantining with his uncle ‘Terry’ …”
Click the images to enlarge…...
- 3/28/2024
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
"Be free! Fiction is freedom!" Neon has revealed an official trailer for a totally bonkers indie comedy titled Stress Positions, marking the feature directorial debut of trans filmmaker Theda Hammel (also of the series "My Trip to Spain"). This premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival in the Dramatic Competition section, and it's also playing at New Directors/New Films in NYC in April before it opens in select theaters later in April as well. Terry Goon is keeping very strict quarantine in his ex-husband’s Brooklyn brownstone while caring for his nephew — a 19-year-old model from Morocco named Bahlul — bedridden in a full leg cast after an electric scooter accident. Unfortunately for Terry, everyone in his life wants to meet the model – hilarity ensues. Starring John Early, Qaher Harhash, Theda Hammel, Amy Zimmer, Faheem Ali, and John Roberts. This awkward comedy is about a hodgepodge of queer people from NYC...
- 3/26/2024
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Following in the footsteps of the like-minded A24, Neon (“Anatomy Of A Fall” “Infinity Pool”) is quickly becoming the go-to studio for adventurous indie cinema and exciting arthouse fare. The studio pulled off quite the feat in 2020 when their film, “Parasite” directed by Bong Joon-Ho, became the first non-English-language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture and became their highest-grossing earner ever ($262 million worldwide).
Continue reading ‘Stress Positions’ Trailer: John Early’s Sundance Millennial Comedy Arrives In April at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Stress Positions’ Trailer: John Early’s Sundance Millennial Comedy Arrives In April at The Playlist.
- 3/26/2024
- by Christopher Marc
- The Playlist
After delivering one of the best stand-ups of the last few years with John Early: Now More Than Ever, the comedian is now back on the big screen, this time leading his own project. Theda Hammel’s Stress Positions, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival and closes New Directors/New Films next month, will now get a U.S. release from Neon on April 19 and the first trailer has arrived.
Lena Wilson said in her Sundance review, “Between The Sweet East and, to some extent, American Fiction, cinephiles seem to be increasing their appetite for politically incorrect commentary. Even if you are not one such moviegoer, Stress Positions, the feature debut from Theda Hammel, does not fucking care. That’s an asset before it’s a problem, but its aimless narrative and discordant visual styles undercut this film’s sharpness.”
See the trailer below for the film also starring Qaher Harhash and Theda Hammel.
Lena Wilson said in her Sundance review, “Between The Sweet East and, to some extent, American Fiction, cinephiles seem to be increasing their appetite for politically incorrect commentary. Even if you are not one such moviegoer, Stress Positions, the feature debut from Theda Hammel, does not fucking care. That’s an asset before it’s a problem, but its aimless narrative and discordant visual styles undercut this film’s sharpness.”
See the trailer below for the film also starring Qaher Harhash and Theda Hammel.
- 3/26/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Everyone is falling apart in “Stress Positions,” the Sundance premiere now opening in U.S. theaters from Neon on April 19.
The anxiety-inducing comedy directed by Theda Hammel, which she co-wrote with Faheem Ali, centers on a cluster of Brooklyn-dwelling New Yorkers spiraling during the first Covid summer of 2020 and also reeling from their own hang-ups, breakdowns, and break-ups. There’s Terry (John Early), a politically numbed basket case in the midst of a divorce, now spinning his wheels in the Brooklyn brownstone owned by the husband who’s left him. There’s his Moroccan nephew Bahlul (Qaher Harhash), a beautiful model badly injured with a broken leg and convalescing at said brownstone, with nowhere else to go and identity questions of his own. Then there’s Terry’s best friend, Karla (also played by director Hammel), a trans massage therapist in a shitty relationship with a writer (Amy Zimmer), reaping...
The anxiety-inducing comedy directed by Theda Hammel, which she co-wrote with Faheem Ali, centers on a cluster of Brooklyn-dwelling New Yorkers spiraling during the first Covid summer of 2020 and also reeling from their own hang-ups, breakdowns, and break-ups. There’s Terry (John Early), a politically numbed basket case in the midst of a divorce, now spinning his wheels in the Brooklyn brownstone owned by the husband who’s left him. There’s his Moroccan nephew Bahlul (Qaher Harhash), a beautiful model badly injured with a broken leg and convalescing at said brownstone, with nowhere else to go and identity questions of his own. Then there’s Terry’s best friend, Karla (also played by director Hammel), a trans massage therapist in a shitty relationship with a writer (Amy Zimmer), reaping...
- 3/26/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
The sitcom “Girls5eva” follows the attempted comeback of a fictional girl group that peaked in the early 2000s, now reunited as middle-aged women. But headed into its third season, it’s “Girls5eva,” not just Girls5eva, that’s trying to start anew. After two critically acclaimed, if evidently little-watched, seasons on Peacock, the show has been resurrected by Netflix, which has bankrolled a fresh batch of episodes and made the entire back catalog available to its massive audience of over 260 million global subscribers — many of whom will encounter “Girls5eva” for the first time as a Netflix original.
Once upon a time, Netflix made a name for itself as a place where cult favorites could find the fan base they deserved, making its rescue of a previously canceled project a retro throwback in itself. “Arrested Development” got a second life as a poster child for the possibilities of TV’s new normal...
Once upon a time, Netflix made a name for itself as a place where cult favorites could find the fan base they deserved, making its rescue of a previously canceled project a retro throwback in itself. “Arrested Development” got a second life as a poster child for the possibilities of TV’s new normal...
- 3/14/2024
- by Alison Herman
- Variety Film + TV
It’s about time for the annual New Directors/New Films Festival. Set to take place April 3 – 14, the festival presented by Film at Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art features a slew of early 2024 festival favorites. Nd/Nf opens with Sundance hit “A Different Man,” directed by breakout filmmaker Aaron Schimberg. Sebastian Stan won the Berlinale best actor award for his turn in the feature as an actor who undergoes a facial reconfiguration surgery.
Film at Lincoln Center programmer and 2024 New Directors/New Films co-chair Dan Sullivan billed “A Different Man” as a “delirious, complex, and hilarious work that evokes the best black comedies produced on the streets and inside the apartments of New York City in the 1960s and ’70s (with a healthy dash of body horror and metanarrative).”
Nd/Nf closes with fellow New York-based film “Stress Positions,” which also premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
Film at Lincoln Center programmer and 2024 New Directors/New Films co-chair Dan Sullivan billed “A Different Man” as a “delirious, complex, and hilarious work that evokes the best black comedies produced on the streets and inside the apartments of New York City in the 1960s and ’70s (with a healthy dash of body horror and metanarrative).”
Nd/Nf closes with fellow New York-based film “Stress Positions,” which also premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
- 3/7/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
A yearly spotlight glancing into the future of cinema, Film at Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art have now announced the 53rd edition of New Directors/New Films (Nd/Nf), taking place from April 3 through April 14, 2024. Bookending the festival are a pair of Sundance hits, Aaron Schimberg’s A Different Man and Theda Hammel’s Stress Positions, while also including another major favorite from the Park City festival: India Donaldson’s Good One. Featuring prize-winners from Berlin, Cannes, Locarno, Sarajevo, and Sundance, including the revelatory Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry, it’s a robust lineup of new voices.
Dan Sullivan, Programmer, Film at Lincoln Center, and 2024 Nd/Nf Co-Chair says, “It just feels right for us to bookend this year’s edition of Nd/Nf with two exciting new features by local filmmakers, as a reminder of what Nd/Nf has always been about: early encounters between the most cutting-edge...
Dan Sullivan, Programmer, Film at Lincoln Center, and 2024 Nd/Nf Co-Chair says, “It just feels right for us to bookend this year’s edition of Nd/Nf with two exciting new features by local filmmakers, as a reminder of what Nd/Nf has always been about: early encounters between the most cutting-edge...
- 2/29/2024
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
In her one-woman show, there’s a running joke that Kate Berlant cannot cry on cue. Throughout the performance, she stands in front of a camera that projects footage of her onto a screen above the stage, contorting her face, willing a single tear to fall until, at long last, she triumphs.
Recently, as she closed out the final performances of Kate at the Pasadena Playhouse — after runs in New York and London — the tears were real and more akin to hysterical sobs. “It’s such a surreal experience,” says Berlant, 36, from backstage at the Playhouse. “The crowd can’t tell because they see the tears and think I’m just acting. It made me think about how there’s sort of no difference between a deep emotional experience and just … pretending.”
Kate is an auto-fictional scripted comedy routine meets theatrical experience. Berlant speaks directly to the audience, telling a...
Recently, as she closed out the final performances of Kate at the Pasadena Playhouse — after runs in New York and London — the tears were real and more akin to hysterical sobs. “It’s such a surreal experience,” says Berlant, 36, from backstage at the Playhouse. “The crowd can’t tell because they see the tears and think I’m just acting. It made me think about how there’s sort of no difference between a deep emotional experience and just … pretending.”
Kate is an auto-fictional scripted comedy routine meets theatrical experience. Berlant speaks directly to the audience, telling a...
- 2/16/2024
- by Seija Rankin
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Netflix has unveiled the trailer for Season 3 of the comedy series “Girls5eva,” set to debut on the streamer on March 14.
This will be the first season of “Girls5eva” to debut since Peacock canceled the show and Netflix picked it up for third season. Netflix also acquired the non-exclusive rights to Season 1 and 2 of the UCP-produced series.
Series regulars Sara Bareilles, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Busy Philipps and Paula Pell star as the members of a one-hit wonder ’90s girl group who experience a resurgence of fame decades after their star has faded. Now in Season 3, the women have recorded a fresh album “Returnity,” and are ready to take their talents on the road for a comeback tour.
The synopsis for Season 3 reads, “With no plan, tour manager, or venues secured, the ladies pile into a van and hit the great unknown, doing their damnedest to promote their album and get back on top.
This will be the first season of “Girls5eva” to debut since Peacock canceled the show and Netflix picked it up for third season. Netflix also acquired the non-exclusive rights to Season 1 and 2 of the UCP-produced series.
Series regulars Sara Bareilles, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Busy Philipps and Paula Pell star as the members of a one-hit wonder ’90s girl group who experience a resurgence of fame decades after their star has faded. Now in Season 3, the women have recorded a fresh album “Returnity,” and are ready to take their talents on the road for a comeback tour.
The synopsis for Season 3 reads, “With no plan, tour manager, or venues secured, the ladies pile into a van and hit the great unknown, doing their damnedest to promote their album and get back on top.
- 2/15/2024
- by Jaden Thompson
- Variety Film + TV
Tim Robinson, the comedian behind sketch series I Think You Should Leave, is starring in Friendship, along with Paul Rudd and Kate Mara. The indie comedy is marking the feature directorial debut of Andrew DeYoung, the helmer known for his work on such series as Our Flag Means Death and PEN15.
J.D. Lifshitz and Raphael Margules, the producing duo behind horror hit Barbarian, are producing the comedy, which is now in production, with Fifth Season, the financier-distribution-production outfit behind recent movies Flora and Son and 80 for Brady. Fifth Season, formerly named Endeavor Content, is also financing.
Written by DeYoung, Friendship centers on a mild-mannered man named Craig, whose life is perfectly balanced, with Subway sandwiches and Marvel movies, a job he enjoys and a happy home life with a wife and son. That life is upended with the arrival in the neighborhood by a weatherman, played by Rudd. Mysterious yet friendly,...
J.D. Lifshitz and Raphael Margules, the producing duo behind horror hit Barbarian, are producing the comedy, which is now in production, with Fifth Season, the financier-distribution-production outfit behind recent movies Flora and Son and 80 for Brady. Fifth Season, formerly named Endeavor Content, is also financing.
Written by DeYoung, Friendship centers on a mild-mannered man named Craig, whose life is perfectly balanced, with Subway sandwiches and Marvel movies, a job he enjoys and a happy home life with a wife and son. That life is upended with the arrival in the neighborhood by a weatherman, played by Rudd. Mysterious yet friendly,...
- 2/2/2024
- by Borys Kit
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Tim Robinson (I Think You Should Leave), Paul Rudd (Only Murders in the Building) and Kate Mara (Class of ’09) have been set to star in Friendship, a new comedy from Fifth Season and BoulderLight Pictures.
Pic centers on Craig Waterman (Robinson), who enjoys his life. He likes New Balance shoes, Subway sandwiches, and Marvel movies. He lives in the suburbs with his wife, Tami, and son, Steven. He’s happy to work at Universal Digital, a company that helps brands make their products more habit-forming. Craig sees no reason to change anything or make new friends… until weatherman Brian moves into the neighborhood. Mysterious yet friendly, macho but vulnerable, Brian (Rudd) transforms everything for Craig, but Craig’s obsessive and childlike nature threatens to ruin the friendship, and possibly everything else in his life.
Friendship is the first feature from director Andrew DeYoung, who also penned the script and is exec producing alongside Tracy Rosenblum.
Pic centers on Craig Waterman (Robinson), who enjoys his life. He likes New Balance shoes, Subway sandwiches, and Marvel movies. He lives in the suburbs with his wife, Tami, and son, Steven. He’s happy to work at Universal Digital, a company that helps brands make their products more habit-forming. Craig sees no reason to change anything or make new friends… until weatherman Brian moves into the neighborhood. Mysterious yet friendly, macho but vulnerable, Brian (Rudd) transforms everything for Craig, but Craig’s obsessive and childlike nature threatens to ruin the friendship, and possibly everything else in his life.
Friendship is the first feature from director Andrew DeYoung, who also penned the script and is exec producing alongside Tracy Rosenblum.
- 2/2/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Between The Sweet East and, to some extent, American Fiction, cinephiles seem to be increasing their appetite for politically incorrect commentary. Even if you are not one such moviegoer, Stress Positions, the feature debut from Theda Hammel, does not fucking care. That’s an asset before it’s a problem, but its aimless narrative and discordant visual styles undercut this film’s sharpness.
Hammel also stars as Karla, a narcissistic trans woman in a resentment-ridden relationship with a lesbian novelist. The film primarily takes place in the brownstone where Karla’s friend Terry (John Early) is riding out the early stages of Covid with his nephew Bahlul (Qaher Harhash). Bahlul is a 19-year-old Moroccan model, and Terry’s gay circle––including his slutty ex-husband Leo (John Roberts)––is all atwitter at the news. Everyone is desperate to lay eyes on this model, who’s likewise eager to meet people besides Terry.
Hammel also stars as Karla, a narcissistic trans woman in a resentment-ridden relationship with a lesbian novelist. The film primarily takes place in the brownstone where Karla’s friend Terry (John Early) is riding out the early stages of Covid with his nephew Bahlul (Qaher Harhash). Bahlul is a 19-year-old Moroccan model, and Terry’s gay circle––including his slutty ex-husband Leo (John Roberts)––is all atwitter at the news. Everyone is desperate to lay eyes on this model, who’s likewise eager to meet people besides Terry.
- 1/29/2024
- by Lena Wilson
- The Film Stage
Everybody in writer-director Theda Hammel’s comedy Stress Positions wants to know about Bahlul (Qaher Harhash), the 19-year-old Moroccan model. Bahlul’s leg is broken, and he’s being nursed back to health by his white uncle, Terry Goon (John Early), who’s living in the Brooklyn “party house” of his soon-to-be-ex-husband, Leo (John Roberts). Terry shelters Bahlul like a wounded bird, vacating all evidence of whatever debauchery took place within the house and insisting that his nephew is too grievously injured for visitors. But the more that Terry tries to keep people away, the greater the mystique is attached to Bahlul.
Of course, as it’s the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, anything that breaks the monotony of self-isolation gains a grand allure—especially if it happens to be a person whose job is to be hot for a living. Right out of the gate, Hammel’s threading...
Of course, as it’s the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, anything that breaks the monotony of self-isolation gains a grand allure—especially if it happens to be a person whose job is to be hot for a living. Right out of the gate, Hammel’s threading...
- 1/28/2024
- by Steven Scaife
- Slant Magazine
By Abe Friedtanzer
John Early in "Stress Positions"
Since March 2020, a number of films and TV series have addressed the life-altering Covid-19 pandemic in their storylines. Often it’s fodder for comedy, since looking back at people furiously wiping down groceries and staying far, far apart from each other can be humorous in retrospect. In some cases, it’s just an extra obstacle to make life a little bit harder and more complicated. In filmmaker Theda Hammel’s feature debut, Stress Positions, staying afloat in a chaotic and isolating time is a considerable challenge for its memorable characters.
John Early stars as Terry, a recently divorced Brooklyn resident watching over his nineteen-year-old nephew from Morocco, Bahlul (Qaher Harhash), as he recovers from an accident...
John Early in "Stress Positions"
Since March 2020, a number of films and TV series have addressed the life-altering Covid-19 pandemic in their storylines. Often it’s fodder for comedy, since looking back at people furiously wiping down groceries and staying far, far apart from each other can be humorous in retrospect. In some cases, it’s just an extra obstacle to make life a little bit harder and more complicated. In filmmaker Theda Hammel’s feature debut, Stress Positions, staying afloat in a chaotic and isolating time is a considerable challenge for its memorable characters.
John Early stars as Terry, a recently divorced Brooklyn resident watching over his nineteen-year-old nephew from Morocco, Bahlul (Qaher Harhash), as he recovers from an accident...
- 1/28/2024
- by Abe Friedtanzer
- FilmExperience
At its heart, Sundance is about discovery. Some of our brightest, biggest filmmaking stars — we’re talking Steven Soderbergh, Richard Linklater, Ava DuVernay, Paul Thomas Anderson, Lulu Wang, Ryan Coogler, Aubrey Plaza, Catherine Hardwicke, Todd Haynes, Tessa Thompson, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert Eggers, the Duplass brothers, Michael B. Jordan, Amy Adams, Elizabeth Olsen, Brie Larson, Lakeith Stanfield, Miles Teller, Anya Taylor-Joy, and many, many more — first rose to acclaim by bringing their work to Sundance.
Some of the biggest films at this year’s festivals came to us through creators and stars we already know and love — it’s no surprise that Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin are so wonderful in Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain” or that “Worst Person in the World” star Renate Reinsve finds new dimension in both pitch-black comedy “A Different Man” and the off-kilter zombie drama “Handling the Undead” or that Kristen Stewart is riveting in...
Some of the biggest films at this year’s festivals came to us through creators and stars we already know and love — it’s no surprise that Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin are so wonderful in Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain” or that “Worst Person in the World” star Renate Reinsve finds new dimension in both pitch-black comedy “A Different Man” and the off-kilter zombie drama “Handling the Undead” or that Kristen Stewart is riveting in...
- 1/26/2024
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Solo shows can be a blessing and a curse; they can be some of the most amazing theater you’ve ever seen… or an overindulgent trainwreck. Comedian Kate Berlant has somehow managed to capture the ineffable magic of both experiences with her one-woman show “Kate,” directed by Bo Burnham and now playing at the Pasadena Playhouse after heralded runs in New York and London
Even before the show, Berlant sets the mood so that the audience feels like it’s attending an industry showcase of sorts. There are dramatic black-and-white photos of her in various poses lining the theater and her branding has taken over the entire space — just check out the “Tickates” booth.
The show finds Berlant playing “Herself” in a one-woman show — an actor and comic telling the story of how she came to be a performer. In the show within the show, she also appears as various...
Even before the show, Berlant sets the mood so that the audience feels like it’s attending an industry showcase of sorts. There are dramatic black-and-white photos of her in various poses lining the theater and her branding has taken over the entire space — just check out the “Tickates” booth.
The show finds Berlant playing “Herself” in a one-woman show — an actor and comic telling the story of how she came to be a performer. In the show within the show, she also appears as various...
- 1/26/2024
- by Jenelle Riley
- Variety Film + TV
‘Stress Positions’ Review: Where So Many Have Failed, This Team Delivers a Hilarious Pandemic Comedy
Building on the promise of her short film “My Trip to Spain,” which played Sundance in 2022, filmmaker Theda Hammel returns to the festival with her feature debut, “Stress Positions.” Joined by favorite collaborator and lead actor John Early, she brings along the same wry sharp humor and the same incisive parody of her generation, only this time, Hammel is playing on a bigger canvas, directing a larger cast and tackling more topics and themes. Among other things, the film might be the first genuinely enjoyable film made about the pandemic.
Set entirely within a few days in the summer of 2020, “Stress Positions” follows Terry Goon (Early) as he navigates a rather stressful few weeks. Recently divorced and unemployed, he’s living in his ex-husband’s Brooklyn brownstone, scared out of his mind about getting infected with Covid. At the same time, he’s caring for 19-year-old nephew Bahlul (Qaher Harhash...
Set entirely within a few days in the summer of 2020, “Stress Positions” follows Terry Goon (Early) as he navigates a rather stressful few weeks. Recently divorced and unemployed, he’s living in his ex-husband’s Brooklyn brownstone, scared out of his mind about getting infected with Covid. At the same time, he’s caring for 19-year-old nephew Bahlul (Qaher Harhash...
- 1/23/2024
- by Murtada Elfadl
- Variety Film + TV
Malia Obama stepped onto a red carpet last week for the first time, with good reason. The former first daughter hit Park City for the Sundance Film Festival premiere of her short film The Heart, an 18-minute directorial debut that snagged a spot in the U.S. short fiction films program of the 2024 edition. The premiere screening happened on the fest’s opening day, Jan. 18, and screened two more times over the weekend. The budding filmmaker, who participated in all post-screening Q&As to discuss her work, also took time out of her busy schedule to screen the film and speak with a group of students at Park City High School about all things creative from writing to directing.
Malia Obama attended The Heart premiere and posed with her actors and short-film collaborators.
It wasn’t all work and no play for the 25-year-old daughter of Barack and Michelle Obama.
Malia Obama attended The Heart premiere and posed with her actors and short-film collaborators.
It wasn’t all work and no play for the 25-year-old daughter of Barack and Michelle Obama.
- 1/22/2024
- by Chris Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Theda Hammel’s latest dramedy at Neon, Stress Positions, stars Hammel, John Early, Qaher Harhash, Amy Zimmer, Faheem Ali and Rebecca F. Wright. It follows Bahlul, a queer Moroccan-American model that everyone wants to meet. While moments emerge showing the glimmer of an insightful character study, the film quickly dissolves into an endurance test drowned out by superficial noise. One must tip the cap to Hammel’s sheer feat of micro-budget production, but her organic style choices bewilder more than enlighten.
The film follows Bahlul (Harhash), a 20-year old spending his time in recovery from a broken leg with his uncle Terry (Early) in Brooklyn. Terry is not Moroccan but American and white, and they are family by marriage. The injured Bahlul meets a cast of eccentric characters including Terry’s best friend Karla (Hammel); Karla‘s girlfriend Vanessa (Zimmer); Terry’s husband Leo (John Roberts); Ronald (Ali), the local...
The film follows Bahlul (Harhash), a 20-year old spending his time in recovery from a broken leg with his uncle Terry (Early) in Brooklyn. Terry is not Moroccan but American and white, and they are family by marriage. The injured Bahlul meets a cast of eccentric characters including Terry’s best friend Karla (Hammel); Karla‘s girlfriend Vanessa (Zimmer); Terry’s husband Leo (John Roberts); Ronald (Ali), the local...
- 1/19/2024
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
The summer of 2020 shouldn’t project beautiful memories onto the brain maps of those who endured it, but Theda Hammel’s anxiety-addled screwball feature debut “Stress Positions,” set around that Covid Fourth of July in New York, asks you to relive the scary days of sheltering in place, banging pots and pans in solidarity with health care workers, and social distancing whenever it was convenient or made you look like you stood for something.
“Stress Positions” mines the gap between the dark bookend of events that shaped millennial lives — September 11 and the pandemic — and that between liberal-posturing millennials and a Gen Z with a less fussy, more hopeful worldview. Hammel’s muses and emissaries on either side of the dichotomy in a comedy swirling with ideas are comedian John Early as a gay soon-to-be-divorcee and Qaher Harhash as his nephew, a 19-year-old Moroccan model with identity-shifting questions of his own.
“Stress Positions” mines the gap between the dark bookend of events that shaped millennial lives — September 11 and the pandemic — and that between liberal-posturing millennials and a Gen Z with a less fussy, more hopeful worldview. Hammel’s muses and emissaries on either side of the dichotomy in a comedy swirling with ideas are comedian John Early as a gay soon-to-be-divorcee and Qaher Harhash as his nephew, a 19-year-old Moroccan model with identity-shifting questions of his own.
- 1/19/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Not much is funny about those terrifying early days of Covid, when the world was cloaked in an apocalyptic doom and the president was telling us to inject bleach. But in “Stress Positions,” Theda Hammel miraculously finds the funny side of lockdown, mining the masks, Purell and social distancing that defined that unhappy era for physical comedy.
“Those gestures are like balloons, and they’re filled with the sense of danger and a sense of peril,” Hammel says of the Sundance-bound film that she directed and co-wrote. “And as soon as the urgency drains away, these behaviors seem ridiculous.”
“Stress Positions,” which follows a 30-something gay man named Terry (John Early) who is trying — and largely failing — to look after his injured Moroccan nephew Bahlul (Qaher Harhash) when the pandemic hits, also wants to use the all-too-recent past to skewer millennial mores. In Early, her friend and frequent collaborator, Hammel found the perfect muse.
“Those gestures are like balloons, and they’re filled with the sense of danger and a sense of peril,” Hammel says of the Sundance-bound film that she directed and co-wrote. “And as soon as the urgency drains away, these behaviors seem ridiculous.”
“Stress Positions,” which follows a 30-something gay man named Terry (John Early) who is trying — and largely failing — to look after his injured Moroccan nephew Bahlul (Qaher Harhash) when the pandemic hits, also wants to use the all-too-recent past to skewer millennial mores. In Early, her friend and frequent collaborator, Hammel found the perfect muse.
- 1/18/2024
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Hulu has released the trailer for the upcoming series “Death and Other Details,” which premieres on Jan. 16 with its first two episodes.
The ten-episode murder mystery stars Violett Beane, Mandy Patinkin, Lauren Patten, Rahul Kohli, Angela Zhou, Hugo Diego Garcia, Pardis Saremi and Linda Emond.
Per the series’ description: “Set amidst the glamor of the global elite, ‘Death and Other Details’ centers on the brilliant and restless Imogene Scott (Violett Beane), who finds herself in the wrong place/wrong time and becomes the prime suspect in a locked room murder mystery. The setting? A lavishly restored Mediterranean ocean liner. Suspects? Every pampered guest and every exhausted crew member. The problem? To prove her innocence, she must partner with a man she despises—Rufus Cotesworth (Mandy Patinkin), the world’s greatest detective.”
ABC Signature produces “Death and Other Details.” Mike Weiss and Heidi Cole McAdams wrote and executive produce the series,...
The ten-episode murder mystery stars Violett Beane, Mandy Patinkin, Lauren Patten, Rahul Kohli, Angela Zhou, Hugo Diego Garcia, Pardis Saremi and Linda Emond.
Per the series’ description: “Set amidst the glamor of the global elite, ‘Death and Other Details’ centers on the brilliant and restless Imogene Scott (Violett Beane), who finds herself in the wrong place/wrong time and becomes the prime suspect in a locked room murder mystery. The setting? A lavishly restored Mediterranean ocean liner. Suspects? Every pampered guest and every exhausted crew member. The problem? To prove her innocence, she must partner with a man she despises—Rufus Cotesworth (Mandy Patinkin), the world’s greatest detective.”
ABC Signature produces “Death and Other Details.” Mike Weiss and Heidi Cole McAdams wrote and executive produce the series,...
- 1/4/2024
- by Jaden Thompson, Caroline Brew and Valerie Wu
- Variety Film + TV
The Writers Guild of America continues to express its displeasure with the exclusion of some writing categories from the 75th Emmy Awards.
The guild sent out a petition on Tuesday signed by more than 1,400 members, urging the Television Academy to reinstate the “Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series/Special” categories in the primetime Emmy Awards telecast.
Along with the petition was a letter signed by several comedians who are eligible for these categories, including Michael Che, Stephen Colbert, Adam Conover, Jimmy Fallon, Sam Jay, Bomani Jones, Colin Jost, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, Trevor Noah, John Oliver, Amber Ruffin, Jon Stewart, and Robin Thede.
In a collective statement, the group of comedians wrote: “As hosts of series eligible for the Emmy Awards’ ‘Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series/Special’ categories, we are profoundly disappointed by the Television Academy’s decision to not present this award during the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards...
The guild sent out a petition on Tuesday signed by more than 1,400 members, urging the Television Academy to reinstate the “Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series/Special” categories in the primetime Emmy Awards telecast.
Along with the petition was a letter signed by several comedians who are eligible for these categories, including Michael Che, Stephen Colbert, Adam Conover, Jimmy Fallon, Sam Jay, Bomani Jones, Colin Jost, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, Trevor Noah, John Oliver, Amber Ruffin, Jon Stewart, and Robin Thede.
In a collective statement, the group of comedians wrote: “As hosts of series eligible for the Emmy Awards’ ‘Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series/Special’ categories, we are profoundly disappointed by the Television Academy’s decision to not present this award during the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards...
- 12/19/2023
- by Katie Campione
- Deadline Film + TV
Jacqueline Novak’s comedy special “Jacqueline Novak: Get On Your Knees” will premiere on Netflix Jan. 23, 2024. The project is directed by Natasha Lyonne (“Poker Face”), who also serves as an executive producer.
Filmed at The Town Hall Theater in New York City, the special features the final performance of Novak’s touring stand-up show “Get On Your Knees,” which premiered in 2019 and sold out multiple times. This 90-minute “concert film-meets-comedy special” revolves around the blowjob and is described as “both raunchy and poignant, an unexpectedly philosophical, coming-of-age tale of triumph that pushes the boundaries of stand-up,” according to the press release.
“Never in my lifetime could I imagine seeing such a hilarious, rigorous, and gut tingling semiotic deconstruction of the phallus in the theatre,” praised “Emily in Paris” actor Jeremy O. Harris of “Get On Your Knees.” “This felt as if Andrea Dworkin and Spaulding Gray had a child they...
Filmed at The Town Hall Theater in New York City, the special features the final performance of Novak’s touring stand-up show “Get On Your Knees,” which premiered in 2019 and sold out multiple times. This 90-minute “concert film-meets-comedy special” revolves around the blowjob and is described as “both raunchy and poignant, an unexpectedly philosophical, coming-of-age tale of triumph that pushes the boundaries of stand-up,” according to the press release.
“Never in my lifetime could I imagine seeing such a hilarious, rigorous, and gut tingling semiotic deconstruction of the phallus in the theatre,” praised “Emily in Paris” actor Jeremy O. Harris of “Get On Your Knees.” “This felt as if Andrea Dworkin and Spaulding Gray had a child they...
- 12/7/2023
- by Valerie Wu
- Variety Film + TV
The Writers Guild of America is doubling down on the Television Academy’s plans to cut the number of writing awards given out on the main Emmys telecast.
The guild has urged writers to “express your feelings” about the “regrettable” decision to remove the Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series/Special from the main primetime awards.
In a memo to members, the WGA said that the TV Academy made the decision “without any justification or defensible reason.”
It comes after the Emmys unveiled the category breakdown this month. Later that day, the WGA told Deadline that the decision to reduce the number of writing categories on the main telecast from four to three was “misguided given the essential role writers play in the creative process of variety series and generating value for this industry.”
The move means that Outstanding Variety Special (Live) will return to the live telecast as Outstanding...
The guild has urged writers to “express your feelings” about the “regrettable” decision to remove the Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series/Special from the main primetime awards.
In a memo to members, the WGA said that the TV Academy made the decision “without any justification or defensible reason.”
It comes after the Emmys unveiled the category breakdown this month. Later that day, the WGA told Deadline that the decision to reduce the number of writing categories on the main telecast from four to three was “misguided given the essential role writers play in the creative process of variety series and generating value for this industry.”
The move means that Outstanding Variety Special (Live) will return to the live telecast as Outstanding...
- 11/28/2023
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Comedic multi-hyphenate Julio Torres (A24’s Problemista) has struck a deal with Ars Nova, the Off-Broadway, non-profit theater in NYC, that will see them partner to identify, develop, and commission full-length projects from early-career comedy artists.
The collaboration further expands Ars Nova’s two-decade commitment to new comedy at a time when support systems for NYC-based artists have decreased. Under the partnership, Torres and Ars Nova will look to provide comedians with opportunities for development and production outside of the traditional model of sketch shows and 10-minute sets. They’ll offer funding up front to create brand new, uniquely theatrical shows, while providing mentorship and development resources to the artists involved, the first set for a commission being Ars Nova Vision Residency Alum River L. Ramirez. Others will be announced at a later date.
To celebrate the alliance, Torres will return to the Ars Nova stage on October 26 to host Showgasm.
The collaboration further expands Ars Nova’s two-decade commitment to new comedy at a time when support systems for NYC-based artists have decreased. Under the partnership, Torres and Ars Nova will look to provide comedians with opportunities for development and production outside of the traditional model of sketch shows and 10-minute sets. They’ll offer funding up front to create brand new, uniquely theatrical shows, while providing mentorship and development resources to the artists involved, the first set for a commission being Ars Nova Vision Residency Alum River L. Ramirez. Others will be announced at a later date.
To celebrate the alliance, Torres will return to the Ars Nova stage on October 26 to host Showgasm.
- 9/29/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Based on Gold Derby’s odds, one of the absolute tightest 2023 Creative Arts Emmy races involves Best Variety Special Writing contenders Chris Rock and John Mulaney, both of whom have previously conquered the category and are now facing off for the first time ever. Having both pushed their comedy to new levels of boldness in their respective Netflix specials “Selective Outrage” and “Baby J,” they provide voters with a truly tough choice when it comes to honoring the most impressive writing of the year.
This contest is made even more interesting by the fact that Rock and Wanda Sykes (“I’m an Entertainer”) are competing against each other after jointly earning four writing nominations and one win for “The Chris Rock Show” over two decades ago. Also included in this lineup are the sketch comedy special “Would It Kill You to Laugh?” and the career retrospective “Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love....
This contest is made even more interesting by the fact that Rock and Wanda Sykes (“I’m an Entertainer”) are competing against each other after jointly earning four writing nominations and one win for “The Chris Rock Show” over two decades ago. Also included in this lineup are the sketch comedy special “Would It Kill You to Laugh?” and the career retrospective “Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love....
- 8/4/2023
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
A remarkably audacious debut, Director Jessica Morris has created a surreal and dark tragicomedy with her short Round Robin, which depicts the awkward realities of a family gathering where the yearly Christmas card photo is due to be taken. Morris uses this routine familial outing as the basis from which to interrogate what it truly means to be part of a ‘happy family’ and how the build up of tensions, on a particularly hot day, can quickly lay waste to that once-strong facade. Now, as the film is due to kick off its run on the festival circuit, Dn joins Morris for an extensive discussion about the making of Round Robin, talking through the plethora of creative influences that make up the short’s style and tone, the notions of family she wanted to thematically deconstruct and the challenge of nailing the rapid-fire editing needed to bring her vision to life.
- 7/26/2023
- by James Maitre
- Directors Notes
From the pre-credits screen that implores audiences, “This film should be played loud bitch,” “John Early: Now More Than Ever” announces itself as a very gay show. The comedian’s most comfortable and funniest speciality is using gay vernacular mockingly. At just over an hour in length, his first HBO special is a fleeting and sharp dissection of how Early’s “generation” behaves or misbehaves, particularly online.
Known for his pairing as a writer with comedian Kate Berlant and for his role in TV’s “Search Party,” Early has amassed a devoted following without achieving mainstream stardom … yet, at least. He should have broken out as an actor. His small but memorable part as the best friend of the lead character in the 2016 movie “Other People” hinted at a casual and comfortable presence on screen. The role ought to have led to more parts toeing the line between comedy and drama.
Known for his pairing as a writer with comedian Kate Berlant and for his role in TV’s “Search Party,” Early has amassed a devoted following without achieving mainstream stardom … yet, at least. He should have broken out as an actor. His small but memorable part as the best friend of the lead character in the 2016 movie “Other People” hinted at a casual and comfortable presence on screen. The role ought to have led to more parts toeing the line between comedy and drama.
- 6/22/2023
- by Murtada Elfadl
- Variety Film + TV
In the opening beats of John Early’s HBO special, John Early: Now More Than Ever, the actor-comedian turns the spotlight on his seemingly unsuspecting parents. “They’re really good-looking, my stupid f*cking parents,” he says with dramatic flair, gesturing to the pair, who couldn’t appear to be more polite or mild-mannered. It’s one of many moments of juxtaposition throughout the performance — Early is clearly putting on an over-the-top persona, one that mimics his narcissistic character in Max’s Search Party and the similarly heightened version of himself in Peacock’s Would It Kill You to Laugh?. But as much as he wants the audience to buy into his egomania, he also takes the opportunity to do something sweet, acknowledging the people who raised him during what is surely a career high.
- 6/17/2023
- by Brianna Wellen
- Primetimer
If you are here, then by now, you are done binge-watching Based On A True Story. Peacock’s latest crime comedy is slowly becoming a rage thanks to its addictive murder mystery storyline with a dash of comedy. But the problem is, it gets over in no time, as there are only eight episodes. However, right now, we are not certain if or when we will get the second season of the show. So, what we need at the moment is a fix—a show as exciting as Based On A True Story. That is why I have decided to step in with a list of shows that might just do the trick for you. Not all of these are going to be murder mysteries, as I would be exploring things beyond the obvious similarity. My objective is to suggest a show to you that can mirror the same experience...
- 6/11/2023
- by Rohitavra Majumdar
- Film Fugitives
Looking for your next binge-watch, or just need to fill an hour? Welcome to Your Weekly Watch List, our curated collection of the best shows on television. Here’s what to watch from Sunday, June 11 through Saturday, June 17.
This week, Black Mirror’s sixth season continues to plumb the depths of our fear of technology. Meanwhile, Robert Carlyle reunites with his Full Monty mates, Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan make an unlikely zombie-fighting team in The Walking Dead: Dead City, and comedian John Early shoots for superstardom with his format-breaking stand-up special Now More Than Ever.
Thursday, Netflix (Full Season)...
This week, Black Mirror’s sixth season continues to plumb the depths of our fear of technology. Meanwhile, Robert Carlyle reunites with his Full Monty mates, Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan make an unlikely zombie-fighting team in The Walking Dead: Dead City, and comedian John Early shoots for superstardom with his format-breaking stand-up special Now More Than Ever.
Thursday, Netflix (Full Season)...
- 6/11/2023
- by Dennis Perkins
- Primetimer
Tiffany Haddish, Sam Richardson and Zoë Chao are gearing up to solve another murder mystery in the trailer for Season 2 of “The Afterparty” on Apple TV+.
After showcasing a refreshing, genre-blending format in Season 1, “The Afterparty” is back for a second season and — you guessed it — someone dies, again. The first season was highly acclaimed, with standout characters like Haddish’s Detective Danner and Richardson’s Aniq quickly catching audiences’ attention.
Season 2 will premiere on Wednesday, June 12, with two brand new episodes, followed by one weekly episode every Wednesday through Sept. 6.
The first official trailer sees Haddish back as her detective character, this time to get to the bottom of a wedding turned deadly for the groom. Throughout the 10 episodes, wedding guests will share their sides of what happened at the crime scene, all with their own unique perspectives.
In addition to the Season 1 stars, Haddish, Richardson and Chao are joined by Elizabeth Perkins,...
After showcasing a refreshing, genre-blending format in Season 1, “The Afterparty” is back for a second season and — you guessed it — someone dies, again. The first season was highly acclaimed, with standout characters like Haddish’s Detective Danner and Richardson’s Aniq quickly catching audiences’ attention.
Season 2 will premiere on Wednesday, June 12, with two brand new episodes, followed by one weekly episode every Wednesday through Sept. 6.
The first official trailer sees Haddish back as her detective character, this time to get to the bottom of a wedding turned deadly for the groom. Throughout the 10 episodes, wedding guests will share their sides of what happened at the crime scene, all with their own unique perspectives.
In addition to the Season 1 stars, Haddish, Richardson and Chao are joined by Elizabeth Perkins,...
- 6/7/2023
- by McKinley Franklin
- Variety Film + TV
The HBO Original stand-up comedy special John Early: Now More Than Ever debuts Saturday, June 17 at 10:00 p.m. Et/Pt on HBO and will be available to stream on Max.
Logline: In his first HBO comedy special, John Early brings his unique blend of cutting commentary, pop star swagger, and all-around loveable hilarity to Roulette Intermedium in Brooklyn, New York. In the style of a gritty 1970s rockumentary, Early performs stand-up and explosive song covers from Britney Spears to Neil Young, intercut with Spinal Tap-esque backstage sketches.
Credits: Written and performed by John Early; executive produced by John Early, Dave Kneebone, Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim, and Janel Kranking for Abso Lutely Productions; directed by Emily Allan and Leah Hennessey.
On May 23, HBO Max will become Max, Warner Bros. Discovery’s enhanced streaming platform, delivering unparalleled content for everyone in the household, including the best of unscripted to the highest quality in scripted programming,...
Logline: In his first HBO comedy special, John Early brings his unique blend of cutting commentary, pop star swagger, and all-around loveable hilarity to Roulette Intermedium in Brooklyn, New York. In the style of a gritty 1970s rockumentary, Early performs stand-up and explosive song covers from Britney Spears to Neil Young, intercut with Spinal Tap-esque backstage sketches.
Credits: Written and performed by John Early; executive produced by John Early, Dave Kneebone, Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim, and Janel Kranking for Abso Lutely Productions; directed by Emily Allan and Leah Hennessey.
On May 23, HBO Max will become Max, Warner Bros. Discovery’s enhanced streaming platform, delivering unparalleled content for everyone in the household, including the best of unscripted to the highest quality in scripted programming,...
- 5/15/2023
- by TV Shows Martin Cid Magazine
- Martin Cid - TV
Longtime pals Kate Berlant and John Early started honing their craft as comedians via YouTube, in the days it when it was considered “the wild, wild west” and you could post whatever you want. Those 12-minute sketches not only helped them to find a rhythm but ultimately paved the way for Would It Kill You to Laugh?, an hourlong sketch show for Peacock that showcases their specific brand of knee-slappers.
Take, for instance, the skits that involve paying restaurant checks with actual melted caramel.
“We used to go to restaurants in the beginning of our friendship and we would say to the waiters, ‘Do you take hot caramel?’ ” recalled Early.
“It just made us laugh,” continued Berlant. “We like the way it sounded. It sounded funny in our mouths. And so when we were looking in the vault for things that make us laugh, that was it. An internal joke.
Take, for instance, the skits that involve paying restaurant checks with actual melted caramel.
“We used to go to restaurants in the beginning of our friendship and we would say to the waiters, ‘Do you take hot caramel?’ ” recalled Early.
“It just made us laugh,” continued Berlant. “We like the way it sounded. It sounded funny in our mouths. And so when we were looking in the vault for things that make us laugh, that was it. An internal joke.
- 4/29/2023
- by Lynette Rice
- Deadline Film + TV
Fair warning to certain right-wing politicians. Deadline’s Contenders Television: Documentary + Unscripted virtual event, which kicks off its 2023 edition Saturday beginning at 9 a.m. Pt, will feature the appearance of … (dramatic pause) … drag queens. Miss Isabelle Brooks and Luxx Noir London are among the RuPaul’s Drag Race contestants joining us to talk about Season 15 of the MTV unscripted series. Not only that, but Grammy-winning recording artist Lizzo – an ally of the LGBTQ+ community who boldly invited several RuPaul’s Drag Race all-stars onto the stage at her recent Nashville concert — is also coming by to spill the tea on her HBO Max film Love, Lizzo, which documents her Cuz I Love You world tour.
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In a time of book banning, furor over how history is taught, and pearl-clutching over queens, count on Deadline as your uncensored guide to...
Click here to sign up for and launch today’s livestream.
In a time of book banning, furor over how history is taught, and pearl-clutching over queens, count on Deadline as your uncensored guide to...
- 4/29/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
The HBO Original stand-up comedy special John Early: Now More Than Ever airs on HBO in June and will be available to stream on HBO Max.
Logline: In his first HBO comedy special, John Early brings his unique blend of cutting commentary, pop star swagger, and all-around loveable hilarity to Roulette Intermedium in Brooklyn, New York. In the style of a gritty 70s rockumentary, Early performs stand-up and explosive song covers from Britney to Neil Young, intercut with Spinal Tap-esque backstage sketches.
John Early quote: “I am so excited to finally come out to the world as the lead singer of my band John Early and The Lemon Squares. I had the time of my life singing some of my favorite songs and sweating my brains out at the taping, and I can’t wait for more people to finally see this sacred show I’ve been doing some...
Logline: In his first HBO comedy special, John Early brings his unique blend of cutting commentary, pop star swagger, and all-around loveable hilarity to Roulette Intermedium in Brooklyn, New York. In the style of a gritty 70s rockumentary, Early performs stand-up and explosive song covers from Britney to Neil Young, intercut with Spinal Tap-esque backstage sketches.
John Early quote: “I am so excited to finally come out to the world as the lead singer of my band John Early and The Lemon Squares. I had the time of my life singing some of my favorite songs and sweating my brains out at the taping, and I can’t wait for more people to finally see this sacred show I’ve been doing some...
- 4/10/2023
- by TV Shows Martin Cid Magazine
- Martin Cid - TV
John Early has set his first HBO special with “Now More Than Ever,” a stand-up comedy hour in the style of a “gritty ’70s rockumentary.”
Airing on HBO and available to stream on HBO Max on June 17, the special will feature “stand-up and explosive song covers from Britney to Neil Young, intercut with Spinal Tap-esque backstage sketches.”
Among his other credits including “Would It Kill You to Laugh?” and “Search Party,” Early is known for whipping out his famous Britney Spears impression on late night television. Perhaps he’ll reprise his rendition of “Lucky” or Spears’ lesser-known Christmas song “My Only Wish (This Year)” in the special.
“I am so excited to finally come out to the world as the lead singer of my band John Early and The Lemon Squares,” Early said in a statement. “I had the time of my life singing some of my favorite songs...
Airing on HBO and available to stream on HBO Max on June 17, the special will feature “stand-up and explosive song covers from Britney to Neil Young, intercut with Spinal Tap-esque backstage sketches.”
Among his other credits including “Would It Kill You to Laugh?” and “Search Party,” Early is known for whipping out his famous Britney Spears impression on late night television. Perhaps he’ll reprise his rendition of “Lucky” or Spears’ lesser-known Christmas song “My Only Wish (This Year)” in the special.
“I am so excited to finally come out to the world as the lead singer of my band John Early and The Lemon Squares,” Early said in a statement. “I had the time of my life singing some of my favorite songs...
- 4/10/2023
- by Ethan Shanfeld
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: How Long Gone, the culture podcast from Jason Stewart and Chris Black, has signed with the Talkhouse podcast network.
The move sees Stewart and Black, who record three podcasts a week, join the likes of Bjork and Santigold, who also have deals with the podcast company.
The deal will see Talkhouse handle distribution, ad sales, marketing and podcast-relevant partnerships and marks the first such deal for How Long Gone, which is currently on episode 473. The company said that the podcast has 500,000 monthly listeners.
Stewart and Back recently signed with CAA as part of a push to further its Hollywood credentials. The pair joke regularly on the show about the new opportunities that the talent agency is bringing them with much chat about a potential How Long Gone television show.
The podcast has featured interviews with the likes of Jeremy O. Harris, Whitney Port, Lili Anolik, Lena Dunham, Bret Easton Ellis,...
The move sees Stewart and Black, who record three podcasts a week, join the likes of Bjork and Santigold, who also have deals with the podcast company.
The deal will see Talkhouse handle distribution, ad sales, marketing and podcast-relevant partnerships and marks the first such deal for How Long Gone, which is currently on episode 473. The company said that the podcast has 500,000 monthly listeners.
Stewart and Back recently signed with CAA as part of a push to further its Hollywood credentials. The pair joke regularly on the show about the new opportunities that the talent agency is bringing them with much chat about a potential How Long Gone television show.
The podcast has featured interviews with the likes of Jeremy O. Harris, Whitney Port, Lili Anolik, Lena Dunham, Bret Easton Ellis,...
- 3/28/2023
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Rising comedian, writer and actor Mary Beth Barone is set to exec produce and star in Good Girl, an indie erotic thriller to be directed by Lauren Garroni, in her feature debut.
Related Story Denzel Washington Reuniting With Ridley Scott On ‘Gladiator’ Sequel At Paramount Related Story 'Fall' Sequel In The Works After Vertigo-Inducing Thriller Becomes Surprise Netflix Hit Related Story 'Drug Spies' Drama Series From Noah Pink, Kirk Wallace Johnson, Kari Skogland & Sister In The Works At FX
The feature scheduled to launch production in April watches as an enterprising Sugar Baby, offered ten grand to move in with her Sugar Daddy, comes to discover the dark secrets trapped within his home. Pic is described as part biting dark comedy, part erotic thriller — but above all, a story about sex work through a feminist and queer lens.
Bree Essirig and Garroni penned the script, with Kelly Parker’s Mary Ellen Moffat to produce.
Related Story Denzel Washington Reuniting With Ridley Scott On ‘Gladiator’ Sequel At Paramount Related Story 'Fall' Sequel In The Works After Vertigo-Inducing Thriller Becomes Surprise Netflix Hit Related Story 'Drug Spies' Drama Series From Noah Pink, Kirk Wallace Johnson, Kari Skogland & Sister In The Works At FX
The feature scheduled to launch production in April watches as an enterprising Sugar Baby, offered ten grand to move in with her Sugar Daddy, comes to discover the dark secrets trapped within his home. Pic is described as part biting dark comedy, part erotic thriller — but above all, a story about sex work through a feminist and queer lens.
Bree Essirig and Garroni penned the script, with Kelly Parker’s Mary Ellen Moffat to produce.
- 3/17/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
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