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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

EXCLUSIVE: Former Universal Pictures Distribution and Marketing EVP John C. Hall has joined the team at American-European media fund APX Group , as it continues to restructure and expand ahead of a planned listing on the New York Stock Exchange later this year. Hall has been appointed special consultant to the Board of Directors and Head of the Marketing and Distribution Committee of the board of directors of APX Group. The Los Angeles-based executive will work directly with APX Group’s London-based Global CEO, Shelley Hammond and the freshly announced Director of Distribution and Acquisition Anthony Buckner. The group said the appointment is part of a strategic restructuring as it prepares for its expected listing on New York Stock Exchange. “John is a brilliant addition to the APX Group. He brings vast experience – especially with companies which are fast developing and existing on the outside realms of the norm and becoming game changers in their field,” … [Read more...] about Former Universal Pictures Exec John C. Hall Joins Burgeoning APX Group Team

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’

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

Academy Award nominee Steven Knight ( Peaky Blinders ) has taken over as the screenwriter for Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s Star Wars movie following the recently announced departure of scribes Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson, Deadline can confirm. Little is known about the film, though new details should be unveiled at next month’s Star Wars Celebration in London. Sources tell us that the film will likely be one of the first out of the gate for the storied Lucasfilm franchise since 2019’s Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker , if not the first. It’s not clear what led to the departure of from the project of Lindelof and Britt-Gibson, though the former alluded to the move in a recent interview with SlashFilm . “I will just say, that for reasons that I can’t get into on this Sunday morning, on this day, the degree of difficulty is extremely, extremely, extremely high. If [the film] can’t be great, it shouldn’t exist,” said Lindelof. “That’s all I’ll … [Read more...] about Steven Knight Set As New Scribe For Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s ‘Star Wars’ Movie

DKC , the public relations, digital communications and content production agency, has officially moved into its new West Coast headquarters in Century City. The firm, which specializes in music, TV, film, talent, consumer brands, culture, sports/esports, technology, social media, influencer and event production, spent the past 10 years in its offices in West Hollywood. The new offices, located on the ground floor at 1801 Century Park East, feature open-concept workspaces and multiple high-design meeting rooms. There is also a product showroom, viewing lounge, barista bar, 30-foot floor-to-ceiling glass walls and a landscaped outdoor terrace. The 6,021-square-foot space was built and designed from the ground up with input from the DKC teams. The L.A. team is led by executive director Wendy Zaas, with her group including EVP Ivy Mollenkamp heading the entertainment division focused on film, TV, music and production; EVP Taryn Owens overseeing the consumer brand … [Read more...] about PR Firm DKC Opens Doors On New L.A. Headquarters

EXCLUSIVE: WME has inked Australian actress Sophie Wilde , who starred in the Sundance breakout horror title Talk to Me from Danny and Michael Philippou. The movie screened in the fest’s Midnight section and was acquired by A24, now set for July 28 theatrical release. In Talk to Me, a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, becoming hooked on the new thrill. That is until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces. Wilde recently wrapped The Portable Door for the Jim Henson Company and it is set to release April 7. Last year, it was announced Wilde would star as the lead in The F**k It Bucket for Netflix, which is set to premiere later this year. She additionally wrapped on the limited series Boy Swallows Universe for Netflix Australia in which she stars opposite Travis Fimmel and Simon Baker. Wilde hails from Australia and graduated from NIDA in 2019 and immediately after made her stage debut … [Read more...] about WME Signs Sophie Wilde, Star Of Sundance Breakout ‘Talk To Me’

EXCLUSIVE : Amazon Studios has begun setting the supporting cast for its Paul Feig -helmed action-comedy Grand Death Lotto , with Ayden Mayeri ( Somebody I Used to Know ), Seann William Scott ( Welcome to Flatch ), Dolly de Leon ( Triangle of Sadness ) and Donald Elise Watkins ( Project Artemis ) signing on for roles. John Cena, Awkwafina and Simu Liu lead the ensemble of the pic now in production, as previously announced. The Amazon Original Movie is set in a very near future, in which a Grand Lottery has been established in economically challenged California. The only catch? You’ll need to kill the winner before sundown in order to legally claim their prize. New L.A. transplant Katie (Awkwafina) accidentally finds herself with the winning ticket and must join forces with amateur jackpot protector Noel (Cena) to make it to sundown in order to claim her multi-billion-dollar prize, all while dealing with Noel’s protection rival Louis Lewis (Liu), who also … [Read more...] about ‘Grand Death Lotto’: Ayden Mayeri, Seann William Scott, Dolly De Leon & Donald Elise Watkins Join Amazon Action-Comedy

EXCLUSIVE : Kino Lorber and Zeitgeist Films have picked up North American rights to Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy — a new documentary on the making of the iconic John Schlesinger film, from acclaimed documentarian Nancy Buirski ( The Loving Story ). Zeitgeist will open the film in North American theaters beginning at New York’s Film Forum in late June and take it nationwide from there, with a digital, educational and home video release on all major platforms via Kino Lorber to follow. Inspired by Glen Frankel’s 2021 book Shooting Midnight Cowboy: Art, Sex, Loneliness, Liberation and the Making of a Dark Classic , Desperate Souls goes behind the scenes to visually document the creation of a masterpiece made by complex and paradoxical characters in New York City, 1969, an era when all the rules of society were being questioned. Featuring inside stories of the film’s production from cast members including Jon Voight, Brenda Vaccaro and … [Read more...] about Kino Lorber, Zeitgeist Films Acquire ‘Midnight Cowboy’ Making-Of Documentary ‘Desperate Souls, Dark City’

Smash is finally heading to Broadway . In an announcement long awaited by fans of the 2012 NBC series, a stage musical adaptation is planned to arrive on Broadway during the 2024-25 season, with a lead producing team of Robert Greenblatt, Neil Meron and Steven Spielberg . A top flight creative team is attached, including director Susan Stroman, composers Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman , book writers Rick Elice and Bob Martin, and the TV series’ choreographer Joshua Bergasse. Spielberg, whose original idea led to the NBC series, said in a statement, “ Smash is near and dear to my heart, and it was always my hope that a musical inspired by the show would eventually come to the stage. We now have an incredible creative team, and I’m looking forward to completing the Smash journey which began with my producing partners over ten years ago.” In addition to new music, the stage version will include many of the Shaiman-Wittman songs from the TV series, including the … [Read more...] about ‘Smash’ Musical Heading To Broadway With Steven Spielberg, Neil Meron & Robert Greenblatt Producing