Lawful under the law

Ashim Ahluwalia, known as a director of edgy films such as John & Jane and Miss Lovely that have premiered at Toronto and Cannes film festivals, is not an obvious choice to direct a young adult drama series for Netflix . But when local production house Bodhitree Multimedia approached him with a proposal for a Hindi remake of Spanish show Elite , he jumped at the chance. “I’ve always been interested in making something on teenagers, especially wealthy urban teenagers, because that’s a world that I know,” says Ahluwalia, who grew up in the tony neighborhoods of south Mumbai. “I went to a school that was very different to the school in Elite , or in this series, but had the same elements of class conflict. So while I’d never thought about doing a series before, I thought this would be an interesting project to do.” Created by Carlos Montero and Dario Madrona, Elite follows three scholarship kids from a modest socioeconomic background who get placed in an … [Read more...] about Ashim Ahluwalia On Portraying The Extremes Of India’s Wealth Gap In Netflix Young Adult Drama ‘Class’

EXCLUSIVE: Italian actress Eleonora Romandini , known in the U.S. for her role as Isabella, a concierge in HBO’s The White Lotus , has signed with Stride Management for representation. Romandini shares a SAG Award nomination for Best Ensemble in a Drama Series for her role as Isabella, the object of hotel manager Valentina’s (Sabrina Impacciatore) affection on Season 2 of The White Lotus , created, written, directed and executive produced by Mike White. A graduate of the 09 Academy in Milan in law, Romandini’s Italian series credits include RAI’s Il paradiso delle Signore and the short film Mythe Dior , directed by Matteo Garrone. She also appeared in the RAIUNO series Makari 2 directed by Michele Soavi. She was most recently seen on the film side in the Riccardo Milani-directed Corro da te and in Il grande giornio, directed by Massimo Venier. On television she was most recently seen in the series Il nostro Generale ( The General’s Men ) directed by Lucio … [Read more...] about ‘The White Lotus’ Actor Eleonora Romandini Signs With Stride Management

Belgian directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne , Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, French filmmaker Alice Diop and Romanian director Cristian Mungiu have demanded that Iran ’s Fajr International Film Festival remove their films from the line-up of its current edition, running from February 1 to 11. The filmmakers said in separate statements that they discovered by chance that their respective films Tori And Lokita , Saint Omer , Rebel and R.M.N. had been included in Fajr’s selection without their personal permission. The issue only came to light as the festival kicked off because it had kept its line-up under wraps in a bid to head off boycotts by directors and producers, due to the brutal crackdown of ongoing protests related to the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody in September. Paris-based sales agent Wild Bunch International which handles the titles said their inclusion in the Fajr line-up was also a surprise to them. Two other … [Read more...] about Dardennes, Alice Diop, Cristian Mungiu, Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah Demand Iran’s Fajr Film Fest Remove Titles From Line-Up

Mafia Mamma and Knives Ou t star Toni Collette and Odessa Young ( The Staircase, Mothering Sunday, Shirley ) have signed to co-star in writer and director Nathan Silver’s twisted revenge thriller The Prima Donna . Collette and Young previously worked together on HBO’s award-winning series The Staircase . The drama revolves around dysfunctional family dynamics, the dangers of ambition, and the lengths we will go to make our mark on the world. Set in contemporary Rome, Collette will play a legendary opera diva who is about to step into the role of a lifetime just as her estranged daughter (Young) shows up at her doorstep, right out of rehab. An aspiring opera singer herself, the daughter summons up the courage to ask to be her mother’s understudy.  When her mother callously dismisses the suggestion, she snaps and starts mulling the ultimate revenge, igniting a cut-throat battle of wills. Silver, whose previous credits include Thirst Street, Uncertain … [Read more...] about Toni Collette & Odessa Young Reunite On Nathan Silver’s Revenge Thriller ‘The Prima Donna’; Cornerstone Launching At The EFM

Melinda Dillon , a two-time Oscar nominee for Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Absence of Malice who also played Ralphie’s mom in A Christmas Story , has died. She was 83. Her family said she died January 9 in Los Angeles but did not give other details. Dillon probably is best known for playing a mother whose young son is abducted by the aliens in Steven Spielberg’s 1977 epic Close Encounters of the Third Kind. She and Roy (Richard Dreyfuss) inexplicably are drawn to Devils Tower in Wyoming as they struggle to make sense of what has happened to them. She earned a Supporting Actress Oscar nom for the role. She also played the mother of the young lead Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) in the 1983 holiday classic A Christmas Story , memorably warning the boy who wants a BB rifle that, “You’ll shoot your eye out!” Dillon would earn a second Supporting Actress Academy Award nomination for 1981’s Absence of Malice, playing a close friend of Paul Newman’s … [Read more...] about Melinda Dillon Dies: ‘Close Encounters’, ‘A Christmas Story’ & ‘Absence Of Malice’ Actress Was 83

TMZ.com Madonna 's daughter let loose like her superstar mom in Detroit this week, chugging beers in the front row at Madge's concert -- and all we gotta say is we're jealous. We're told 18-year-old Lourdes Leon showed up at Madonna's "Rebel Heart" show Thursday night with a group of her friends and sat down in the front row. It wasn't long after when Lourdes cracked open a cold one and slugged away. While drinking at 18 is obviously against the law, we still gotta admit ... boozing front row at one of the biggest acts of all time is pretty sweet. Especially if it's your mom. … [Read more...] about Madonna’s Daughter — Drinking At Mom’s Concert Because … Well, Her Mom’s Freakin’ Madonna!

Gallery Launch Gallery Instagram Madonna learned the hard way this weekend you can't throw a banger in The Hamptons without neighbors calling the cops. We're told Madge threw her 57th B-Day party Saturday night and it was so loud the neighbor's houses were shaking. Law enforcement tells us, around 2:30 AM, they were called after a neighbor complained about ear-shattering noise. Cops say they never spoke with Madonna, because by the time they got there the partygoers knew something was about to go down so they muted the noise. One source says ... after cops left the party started raging again. As for the hangover, we suggest sunglasses and plenty of Tylenol. … [Read more...] about Madonna — Cops Called After Raging 57th B-Day Party (PHOTOS)

China was much on Bill Maher ’s mind in this week’s edition of HBO ’s Real Time . His first mention came during the opening monologue, when he talked about people “freaking out” over the Chinese spy balloon over Montana. “Now they know where we keep the cows,” Maher said. He noted the Chinese are denying that the balloon is being used to spy on us. “That’s what TikTok is for.” Maher was against those who want to shoot it down, calling for calm. “We have to watch til it crashes and burns,” he said. “Like we’re doing with Kanye” But Maher turned serious during his New Rules editorial, noting how the woke are trying to reinvent the very nature of human beings. He talked about the Red Guard movement in China, where people would attack those accused of not toeing the ideological line, making them wear dunce caps and publicly shaming them. Such tactics, Maher said, were an attempt to change things by screaming at it, a problem then — and now, again, becoming more … [Read more...] about Bill Maher Condemns Woke Revolution, Twitter’s ‘Red Guard’, And Its US Parallels

SAG-AFTRA is working on what will be the first truly comprehensive picture of the employment landscape for women and minority actors and hopes to release it within a year. SAG used to release the reports annually, then in 2004 it started issuing them every other year. After 2009, it stopped releasing the reports altogether. The problem was that AFTRA never released comprehensive casting reports on actors employed under its jurisdiction – which included daytime soaps and some primetime and basic cable shows, and new pilots – so the employment picture SAG presented was never really complete. And in the years leading up to their 2012 merger, AFTRA launched a concerted campaign to sign more pilots and cable shows to its contract by offering more favorable terms than SAG’s – a move that sparked a bitter feud between the two unions. Related: SAG-AFTRA Sets May 5 For Start Of New Contract Talks With AMPTP As AFTRA’s share of the TV jurisdiction ballooned, the missing piece … [Read more...] about SAG-AFTRA Working On Wide-Ranging Report About Casting Diversity

The union’s new voluntary Personal Managers Code of Ethics and Conduct really isn’t going over well with some managers. Just a day after the code was unveiled, SAG-AFTRA today sent an email to members over the “uninformed lobbying” against the new scheme by the Talent Managers Association . SAG-AFTRA claimed that its former partners in crafting the code had “reached the level of direct misrepresentations being sent to union members in an attempt to frighten them about the true intent of this Code.” Related: SAG-AFTRA Sets New Ethics Code For Personal Managers “Managers have been asked by SAG-AFTRA of the guild if we intend to help them get work,” reads one email from a personal manager obtained by Deadline. “I’m afraid that if we want to stay in the guild’s good graces we must turn away all guild members who approach us with agency representation.” The latter sentence refers to state labor laws in California and New York that limit personal managers’ ability to procure … [Read more...] about SAG-AFTRA Slams Talent Managers Association For Scare Tactics Over New Ethics Code