Children of the corn

EXCLUSIVE : Michelle Dockery is set to star in Destry Allyn Spielberg ’s directorial debut, Please Don’t Feed the Children. The elevated genre feature film will begin production late April in New Mexico. Scripted by Paul Bertino, the psychological thriller is produced by Jason Dubin and his Perry Street Films, Josh Kesselman and Michael Hagerty. In Please Don’t Feed the Children, after a viral outbreak ravaged the country’s adult population, a group of orphans heads south in search of a new life, only to find themselves at the mercy of a deranged woman harboring a dangerous secret. Spielberg, daughter of The Fabelmans helmer, will do this film before the one on which she originally expected to make her feature debut, Four Assassins (and a Funeral) . The latter, a Kingsman- meets- Knives Out meets- Succession -style script by Ryan Hooper that made the 2021 Black List , will percolate a bit longer but is still in the works from Basil Iwanyk & Erica … [Read more...] about Destry Allyn Spielberg’s Directing Debut Will Be ‘Please Don’t Feed The Children’; ‘Downton Abbey’s Michelle Dockery Starring

EXCLUSIVE: The Jim Henson Company and Marblemedia are using comedy to put children’s mental health under the microscope. The pair has teamed on Felix , a live-action comedy about a boy, his family and his ‘feels’ — five original characters created by Fraggle Rock and Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio maker Jim Henson’s Creature Shop that manifest his larger-than-life emotions. The emotions live in his house, follow him to school and eat his snacks, but once he joins a school for neurodivergent kids, he learns to live with them. The ten-part series was created by Miklos Perlus and inspired by his neurodivergent son. It will run to ten parts and aim to “break new ground by debunking the stereotypes and stigmatisation around neurodiversity and mental health challenges among children.” No network is attached at this stage. Co-producers Jim Henson and Marblemedia previously teamed for live-action preschool series Hi Opie! in 2014 and its spin-off, Opie’s Home … [Read more...] about The Jim Henson Company And Marblemedia To Shine Light On Neurodivergent Children In Miklos Perlus Comedy ‘Felix’

After the launch of its first original content in 2022, Disney+ France is expanding, revealing a slate of new productions Wednesday at the Series Mania festival in Lille. The announcement was made by Pauline Dauvin, Disney’s VP Programming, Original Productions and Acquisitions. The projects include a mix of film and TV productions. The first is a new original series titled Les enfants sont roism (The Children Are Kings) , adapted from Delphine Le Vigan’s novel of the same name. The series is currently in pre-production and is expected to shoot later this year. Two original French films are also set to debut on the streamer this year. The first, Une Zone à Défendre , is billed as a “moving and intense melodrama” and stars Lyna Khoudri ( The French Dispatch ) and François Civil ( The Stronghold ). The pic is currently scheduled for a summer release. The second feature is Antigang: La Relève , an action film starring Alban Lenoir, Jean Reno and Sofia Essaïdi. … [Read more...] about Disney+ France Announces Slate Of Projects At Series Mania

EXCLUSIVE : Lion Forge Animation, the company behind the Oscar-winning Hair Love , has been rebranded as Lion Forge Entertainment as it is expanding its slate to include live-action in addition to animation. It has named veteran family entertainment executive Stephanie Sperber its President and chief Content Officer. Sperber is joining Lion Forge after recently leaving Imagine , where she was president of Imagine Kids+Family, a division she helped launch. She will report to CEO David Steward II, who founded Lion Forge Animation in 2019, and COO Edward Hamati. “Stephanie’s unparalleled experience, creative instincts, industry relationships, business acumen and work ethos will be a driving force for Lion Forge and pave the way for us to enter exciting new frontiers,” Steward said. “The Lion Forge brand has stood for diversity and representation in animation for the past four years, and I’m thrilled to take that brand and that mission into the live action series and feature … [Read more...] about Stephanie Sperber Named President & CCO Of Lion Forge As Animation Company Expands Into Live-Action

EXCLUSIVE: Around 25 layoffs are incoming in the BBC Children’s & Education department, while BBC Studios Kids & Family team has seen a similar number depart since December. The decisions have been made independently of each other, we understand, and a voluntary redundancy process will now commence within Children’s & Education. Staff were informed yesterday afternoon by email. BBC Children’s hits include the likes of Hey Duggee, Oliver Twist adaptation Dodger (pictured) and Blue Peter . Following an 18-month review that has just concluded, the circa-25 layoffs will be within the presentation sub-division, which promotes kids content via links and resources, and the educational production sub-division, which will see a senior leader restructure. BBC Children’s & Education, which is based in Salford and runs channels CBBC and CBeebies along with online content and educational resources, is preparing to take the older-skewing CBBC channel online … [Read more...] about Layoffs To Come In BBC Kids Departments

This morning’s Tony Award nominations favored the familiar, with Mean Girls and SpongeBob SquarePants leading the field with 12 nods apiece. The American debut of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child paced new plays with 10 nominations, and the revival of Angels in America had a strong showing with 11 nominations, most in Tony history for a play. (See the full list below.) Other shows posting impressive tallies included The Band’s Visit , with 11 nominations going to the original musical based on a 2007 Israeli film. An acclaimed revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel also scored 11 nominations, including one for Renée Fleming, who is better known for her career as one of the opera world’s most venerable stars. Lincoln Center’s posh reboot of My Fair Lady garnered 10 nominations, and the Denzel Washington-starring revival of Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh received eight. Frozen , the latest Disney adaptation to head to Broadway , joining The … [Read more...] about Tony Award Nominations: ‘Mean Girls,’ ‘SpongeBob’ And ‘Harry Potter’ Lead New Crop; ‘Angels,’ ‘Carousel’ Top Revivals

I suspect we’ll be seeing more than one silly and misleading “frozen out” reference in coverage of this year’s Tony Awards nominations – starting with that one – but the absence of Frozen in the leading actress categories (Patti Murin and Caissie Levy), and director (Michael Grandage) from the 2018 nominations roster has gotta be a sting for Disney, even with major consolations like nods for Best musical, book and original score. Though critical praise for Frozen was hardly unanimous, I’d have thought Levy’s performance of “Let It Go” would have provided safe passage. Same for Murin’s charming, barely-leaves-the-stage performance as the underdog Princess Anna, and I’d have nominated either over…But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Here’s a closer, first-reaction look at some of the categories. Just my opinions, of course, and I might very well be fine-tuning and re-thinking right up until the trophies are handed out June 10. Best Performance by an Actor in a … [Read more...] about Tonys 2018: Snubs, Surprises & Analysis From ‘Harry Potter’ Magic To “Let It Go”

Norman Steinberg , who co-scripted Mel Brooks’ comedy classic Blazing Saddles with and won an Emmy for Flip Wilson’s 1970s variety show, has died. He was 83. The WGA East said Steinberg died March 15 but did not provide other details. Steinberg was a disgruntled lawyer met Brooks in the 1960s at a Manhattan coffee shop, where he would run into the future EGOT winner regularly. After repeatedly telling him that we wanted to be a comedy writer, Brooks relented and told Steinberg to submit a script for his James Bond-spoofing sitcom Get Smart! The series was canceled, but Brooks told the would-be scribe that this his script was funny — and Steinberg quit his hated job at a law firm. Steinberg started writing for the music trade mag Cash Box before landing a gig writing a political humor album for David Frye. He later moved to Los Angeles, where he was partnered with George Carlin writing for NBC’s comedy-variety series The Flip Wilson Show. That year, the show’s … [Read more...] about Norman Steinberg Dies: ‘Blazing Saddles’ Screenwriter & ‘Flip Wilson Show ‘Emmy Winner Was 83