Three finalists for HBO ’s fifth annual Asian Pacific American Visionaries short film competition have been announced, and include filmmakers Jess X. Snow ( Little Sky ), Jesse Gi ( Neh ), and Urvashi Pathania ( Unmothered ). HBO said the three films exemplify this year’s competition theme of “Taking the Lead.” The film competition showcases cinematic storytellers of Asian and Pacific Islander descent, and the finalists were selected from hundreds of submissions and judged by a panel of HBO executives, industry leaders and fellow APA filmmakers. The three winning filmmakers will premiere their films during the 2021 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, presented by Visual Communications, on Saturday, September 25. In addition to the festival premiere, HBO Max will debut the films on September 27. Snow is a non-binary film director, artist, poet and community arts educator who creates queer Asian immigrant stories that transcend borders, binaries and time. …
‘Batman: The Audio Adventures’ Podcast Leads HBO Max’s Audio Push
HBO Max is the latest television company to ramp up its push into podcasts. The WarnerMedia streamer has made a number of moves in the audio space and is bringing together a number of projects under the HBO Max banner and platform. The company is launching Batman: The Audio Adventures , a scripted original starring Jeffrey Wright as Batman, Rosario Dawson as Catwoman and John Leguizamo as the Riddler. This is separate from DC Comics’ own Batman podcast that it is making with Spotify. It comes as rivals such as Netflix also step up their plans in the audio space. HBO Max is also launching its first look-back audio series, centered around Band of Brothers, prepping a new Insecure spin-off podcast and expanding its deal with podcast firm Audacy. This comes as the HBO Max Podcast Program has grown from four podcasts to over 25 including companion series based on shows such as Chernobyl and Lovecraft Country . The moves were announced by Michael Gluckstadt …
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Leslie Jones & Nat Faxon Join HBO Max’s Pirate Comedy ‘Our Flag Means Death’
Our Flag Means Death , the HBO Max pirate comedy series from Taika Waititi and David Jenkins, has added Leslie Jones and Nat Faxon to its crew. Coming 2 America and Supermarket Sweep star Jones and Married alum Faxon join the period comedy as recurring guest stars. Rhys Darby and Waititi headline the series alongside a large ensemble cast. Darby plays Stede Bonnet, a pampered aristocrat who abandoned his life of privilege to become a pirate, while Waititi will play Blackbeard , history’s most feared and revered pirate. The cast also includes Kristian Nairn, Nathan Foad, Samson Kayo, Rory Kinnear, Con O’Neill, Vico Ortiz, Ewen Bremner, David Fane, Joel Fry, Guz Khan and Matt Maher. 2020-21 HBO Max Pilots & Series Orders Created by Jenkins, who also serves as showrunner, Our Flag Means Death is exec produced by Waititi, Garrett Basch and Dan Halsted. Jones is represented by CAA and Hansen Jacobson Teller, and Faxon is represented by CAA and …
Taika Waititi To Star In HBO Max Period Comedy Series ‘Our Flag Means Death’
Jojo Rabbit Oscar winner Taika Waititi is taking on yet another role in the HBO Max period comedy Our Flag Means Death . In addition to serving as executive producer and pilot director, Waititi will star opposite Rhys Darby in the series from writer David Jenkins ( People of Earth) , Garrett Basch ( What We Do in the Shadows ) and Dan Halsted. Created by Jenkins, who also serves as showrunner, Our Flag Means Death is based loosely on the true adventures of Stede Bonnet (Darby), a pampered aristocrat who abandoned his life of privilege to become a pirate. Waititi will play Blackbeard, history’s most feared and revered pirate. “Our Blackbeard is a legend, a lover, a fighter, a tactical genius, a poetic soul and quite possibly insane,” said Jenkins. “Only one man could play this role, and that is the great Taika Waititi. We’re thrilled beyond measure he’s decided to don the beard.” 2020 HBO Max Pilots & Series Orders Watch on Deadline …
‘The Shining’ Offshoot Series ‘Overlook’ From Bad Robot Not Going Forward At HBO Max, Closing In On New Home
HBO Max has opted not to proceed with Overlook , the drama project from J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Prods. inspired by Stephen King’s The Shining . The company and studio Warner Bros. Television are currently shopping the show, which is expected to land at a new home soon, with Netflix a likely destination, I hear. Reps for Bad Robot, WBTV and Netflix declined comment. Overlook was part of the inaugural Bad Robot slate at HBO Max under the company’s mega 2019 deal with WarnerMedia, which was commissioned by the previous regimes at the streamer. While Overlook was announced as a series order at the time, it was actually development with a series commitment, I hear. Written by Dustin Thomason and Scott Brown, horror-thriller Overlook, inspired by and featuring iconic characters from King’s The Shining , explores the untold, terrifying stories of the most famous haunted hotel in American fiction. I hear HBO Max brass liked the project but felt it was not a fit for …
The Shining TV Show Overlook Is Dead at HBO Max, But May Find a New Home Elsewhere
Given the current wave of Stephen King movies and TV shows doing big business at the moment, you would have thought that The Shining spin-off series Overlook would have been a sure fire winner for HBO Max, but it seems that they have decided that the project from J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot is not one they want to move forward with. While it would be a no brainier for the Warner Bros. drama to go to HBO Max, it seems that are instead trying to find it a new home, with some suggestions saying that Netflix are the likely target. Overlook tells the story of the hotel made famous by King's novel The Shining , which has been made into numerous movies and TV shows in its own right. Written by Dustin Thomason and Scott Brown, the series was originally commissioned back in 2019 and was parent of the Bad Robot deal with WarnerMedia, but with the top decision makers switching around since then, the current people who have the say apparently just don't see a place for Overlook in the …
WarnerMedia Launches House Of Max Brand Studio, Expanding Ad Offerings
The ad sales unit of WarnerMedia has launched a new brand studio , House of Max . The venture follows the launch of HBO Max with Ads in June. The lower-priced, ad-supported tier of the streaming service featured 35 initial advertisers and came after the debut of ad-free HBO Max in May 2020. The AVOD version of HBO Max competes with a number of “ad-lite” subscription services in the market. In the subscription game, major players range from well-established entities like Hulu and Paramount+ (an expansion of the six-year-old CBS All Access), and relative newcomers like Peacock and Discovery+. Other streaming outlets and media companies have rolled out brand studios as they manage through a reordering of the TV landscape. Roku’s debuted earlier this year and Hulu’s in 2020 . While linear viewing still exists at great scale, ratings are dropping and the push toward streaming has been accompanied by advertiser interest in the kind of targeting capabilities only …
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‘And Just Like That…’: Christopher Jackson And LeRoy McClain Join ‘Sex And The City’ Revival
EXCLUSIVE: Christopher Jackson ( Hamilton , Bull ) and LeRoy McClain ( The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Respect ) have joined the cast of HBO Max ’s Sex and the City revival And Just Like That.. . in recurring roles. Jackson will portray Herbert Wexley, a successful Manhattan hedge fund banker and husband to documentarian and mother of three Lisa Todd Wexley (Nicole Ari Parker). LeRoy’s character Andre Rashad Wallace is a successful musician and husband to Dr. Nya Wallace (Karen Pittman), a Columbia law professor. Both Parker and Pittman joined the cast in mid-July alongside Sarita Choudhury. The revival, from executive producer Michael Patrick King, follows Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) navigating the journey from the complicated reality of life and friendship in their 30s to the even more complicated reality of life and friendship in their 50s. The 10-episode, half-hour series began production in the Big …
Louis C.K. Performs For First Time Since Sexual Misconduct Allegations
After being out of the spotlight for nearly 10 months, Louis C.K. returned to the stand-up stage in New York. This marks his first public appearance and performance since he was accused of sexual misconduct in November. According to the New York Times, C.K. surprised audiences at the Comedy Cellar in New York City, a spot he frequented pre-#MeToo accusations. The audience welcomed the disgraced comedian as he took the stage at 11 PM for a 15-minute set, but he did not address or mention the allegations. In November of last year, five women came forward in the pages of The New York Times about how the comedian masturbated in front of them. C.K. next issued a statement in response to the sexual misconduct saying it was true “And I have to reconcile it with who I am. Which is nothing compared to the task I left them with.” In the wake of the accusations, C.K. was dropped by all his reps and he lost his production deal with FX. In addition, Orchard canceled the …
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Christopher Backus & Skye P. Marshall To Star In Psychological Thriller ‘Daft State’
EXCLUSIVE : Christopher Backus ( Big Little Lies , Mindhunter ) & Skye P. Marshall ( Chilling Adventures of Sabrina ) have signed on to star in Daft State , a psychological thriller from director Chad Bishoff , which heads into production in Omaha, Nebraska this month. The film scripted by Bishoff and Sam Harter charts the mysterious psychological destruction of Easton (Backus), who is driven to the edge of sanity, and possible self-harm, by those that love him most—his wife (Marshall) and daughter. Will Easton succumb to their increasingly traumatizing pressure, or will he conquer the dark forces at play in his addled psyche? The Syncretic Entertainment production is produced by Bishoff and Erich Hover. Its exec producers include Inny Clemons ( Straight Outta Compton , Netflix’s Sneakerheads ), Lisa Crnic (Paramount’s Clifford the Big Red Dog ), Brett Cullen ( Joker ) and Jonas Roeser ( It Snows All the Time ). “I’ve always been …