Managing execs who didnt get the promotion

EXCLUSIVE : Academy Award and 3x Emmy winner Bill Conti ( The Right Stuff ) has been tapped to pen the score for Roselli’s Way , a new biopic on Italian American pop singer Jimmy Roselli. The film scripted by J.D. Zeik ( Ronin ) will watch as Roselli looks back on a career, in which he was forever the underdog in comparison to contemporary Frank Sinatra, among others. Michael Besman, James Deutch, Roger Birnbaum and Mark Kimsey will produce for EMP Productions, along with Spike Seldin and Neil Jesuele of Remarkable Media, and veteran music exec and record producer Ron Fair, who will also serve as music supervisor. James Ivory and Stephen Dembitzer will serve as exec producers. A director is not yet attached to the project, though the casting search for its title character is now under way. “The story behind one of the greatest voices of his era needs to be told,” Conti told Deadline. “Roselli’s life, though unknown is most compelling.” Conti won an Academy … [Read more...] about Bill Conti, Academy Award-Winning Composer Behind ‘The Right Stuff,’ Boards James Ivory-Backed Biopic ‘Roselli’s Way’

The creators of series including Tuca & Bertie and Gordita Chronicles , which both were axed at Warner Bros Discovery, have taken the conglomerate to task for the recent moves. Those joining the WGA West in blasting the WBD on Monday include Claudia Forestieri, creator and executive producer of Gordita Chronicles ; Lisa Hanawalt, creator and executive producer of Tuca & Bertie ; and Moisés Zamora, creator and executive producer of Whistleblower , a project in development at HBO Max. Forestieri, whose Gordita Chronicles was canceled last summer after one season and subsequently pulled from HBO Max, said the merger of Warner Bros and Discovery “has provided pretty stark and immediate evidence that industry consolidation not only harms diversity and inclusion.” Hanawalt said that the female-led Tuca & Bertie , which was canceled in November after two seasons and being saved from its cancellation at Netflix, said, “It’s already harder for … [Read more...] about ‘Tuca & Bertie’ & ‘Gordita Chronicles’ Creators Join With WGA To Slam Warner Bros Discovery Over Cancellations

EXCLUSIVE : Fisk University made history earlier this year by becoming the first HBCU gymnastics team to compete at an NCAA event. The Nashville school and its team will now be the subject of a docuseries from filmmaker Deborah Riley Draper and wiip . Flipped (w/t) will follow college gymnastics’ only all BIPOC team as they navigate the pressures of their first season while challenging the stereotypes and norms in women’s athletics. With no university gym of their own, Coach Corrinne Tarver and her gymnastics team at Fisk University, consisting primarily of first-year college students, aim to take on the best in NCAA gymnastics without mitigating or changing who they are as women of color. The series features access to the coaches, student athletes, parents, and administrators at Fisk University and the trials and triumphs of HBCU sports. The team, which included several Division-I athletes who de-committed from high-profile programs, took the mat at the 2023 … [Read more...] about Fisk University, The First HBCU Gymnastics Team To Compete At NCAA Level, Leaps Into Docuseries From Deborah Riley Draper & Wiip

EXCLUSIVE : Tulsa King ‘s Jay Will has landed the title role in Rob Peace — the second feature from Academy Award-nominated actor Chiwetel Ejiofor , on the heels of the Netflix-acquired The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind , which he’s directing from his own script. The film, first announced in 2019, is based on Jeff Hobbs’ best-selling biography The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League . It follows Robert Peace, who made his way to Yale on scholarship after growing up in a crime-ridden section of Newark, New Jersey. He’d major during his time there in molecular biophysics and biochemistry, working in a lab researching cancer and infectious diseases, while at the same time making six figures from the sale of marijuana. While Pearce graduated with honors in 2002, the promise of his future crumbled when he was killed in a drug-related shooting in 2011. The film currently in production is being produced by Los … [Read more...] about ‘Tulsa King’s Jay Will To Topline Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Second Feature ‘Rob Peace’

EXCLUSIVE : The White Lotus breakout Sabrina Impacciatore has signed with Gersh and MGMT Entertainment for representation. Impacciatore is one of the Italian stars of the HBO smash’s second season, following the intertwining lives of employees and guests at a White Lotus luxury hotel in Sicily. The anthology created, written, directed and exec produced by Mike White had her playing Valentina, the tightly wound resort manager who falls for the concierge Isabella (Eleonora Romandini). While she’s annoyed for much of the season by the presence on the property of the sex worker Lucia (Simona Tabasco) and her aspiring singer friend Mia (Beatrice Grannò), she winds up sharing her vulnerability and a life-changing moment of physical intimacy with the latter. Mia is then able to realize a personal dream, as she’s granted the opportunity to perform for hotel guests. The White Lotus has thus far nabbed 10 Emmys from 20 nominations for its two seasons, among countless … [Read more...] about ‘The White Lotus’ Breakout Sabrina Impacciatore Signs With Gersh & MGMT Entertainment

EXCLUSIVE : Jason Bateman is set to direct The Pinkerton , a supernatural revenge-western hybrid that Warner Bros . and JJ Abrams ’ Bad Robot acquired two years ago. Pic was sold as a spec by F9’s Daniel Casey . It was the first original film project for Bad Robot since Warner Bros signed a big deal with the producer. Bateman and Michael Costigan will be exec producers. Bad Robot’s Abrams and Hannah Minghella are the producers. The Pinkertons were a private security guard and detective agency established in the U.S. by Scotsman Allan Pinkerton in 1850. Pinkerton became famous when he claimed to have foiled a plot to assassinate president-elect Abraham Lincoln, who later hired Pinkerton agents for his personal security during the Civil War. Bateman made his feature directing debut on Bad Words and followed with The Family Fang , and won an Emmy and two SAG Awards for directing episodes of Ozark, to go with the two Emmys he won for Best Actor on that … [Read more...] about Jason Bateman On The Case To Direct ‘The Pinkerton’ For Warner Bros & Bad Robot