Music writers and producers

EXCLUSIVE : Rising comedian, writer and actor Mary Beth Barone is set to exec produce and star in Good Girl , an indie erotic thriller to be directed by Lauren Garroni , in her feature debut. The feature scheduled to launch production in April watches as an enterprising Sugar Baby, offered ten grand to move in with her Sugar Daddy, comes to discover the dark secrets trapped within his home. Pic is described as part biting dark comedy, part erotic thriller — but above all, a story about sex work through a feminist and queer lens. Bree Essirig and Garroni penned the script, with Kelly Parker’s Mary Ellen Moffat to produce. Additional exec producers will include Garroni, Essrig, Simon Brook and Brook Productions. The New York-based Barone landed her feature script You’re My Best Friend on the 2022 edition of The Black List and is currently developing a half-hour comedy series titled Dicks with Jax Media and Fox. She has appeared on That Damn Michael Che for … [Read more...] about Mary Beth Barone To Exec Produce & Star In Indie Erotic Thriller ‘Good Girl’

EXCLUSIVE: The Black List and Women in Film said Monday that they have set the participants for their 2023 Episodic Lab, with seven television pilots from eight writers selected. Now in its seventh year, the lab focuses on preparing women writers and writers of underrepresented genders for careers in writing for TV. More than 40 scribes have participated since its launch in 2016, with the organizations saying half currently have jobs in the industry. This year’s list features Bev Chukwu, Deanna Esposito, Eudie Pak, Laura Malatos & Helen Sun, Katherine Ruppe, Lorin Williams and Thea Rodgers. The lab, supported by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and Shivhans Pictures, meets twice a week in March for sessions that include masterclasses, pitch workshops and lectures from guest mentors. This year’s mentors list includes Monica Beletsky ( Parenthood ), Jane Becker ( Ted Lasso ), Glen Mazzara ( The Dark Tower ), Sono Patel ( The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel ) … [Read more...] about The Black List And Women In Film Set 2023 Episodic Lab Writers

EXCLUSIVE: Producer Amy Williams has filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Waheed AlQawasmi, the writer and director of upcoming indie feature Jacir , starring Lorraine Bracco . The suit also names WAFilms, the production company behind the film. AlQawasmi has hit back, describing the complaint as “without merit”. In the complaint, filed in the Chancery Court for Shelby County, Tennessee, producer Williams claims that AlQawasmi wrongfully removed her name from the film as its lead producer and has failed to pay her the promised compensation for her work on the project. According to the filing, Williams says AlQawasmi approached her in 2016 to help produce the film originally titled My Friend Jacir . The suit claims that Williams procured funding and cast members for the movie, including Bracco, who stars in the film’s lead role. The film completed production in December 2020, at which point the suit claims that AlQawasmi “manufactured” a contract breach on … [Read more...] about Producer Amy Williams Files Lawsuit Against Filmmakers Behind Indie Drama ‘Jacir’ Starring Lorraine Bracco

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

EXCLUSIVE: Peacock is developing drama series Queen of Flow , a premium adaptation of Caracol Television’s Colombian telenovela, La Reina Del Flow . Jorge Reyes is attached to pen the script for the project, from Westbrook Studios and Universal Television. Singer and actress Becky G ( Good Mourning , Power Rangers ) is in early negotiations to lead the series, Deadline understands. Queen of Flow is a revenge tale/music drama about a young singer-songwriter named Yeimi — the role Becky G is in talks for — who rises to fame in the music world and finds a star-crossed love with the superstar scion of a powerful family. But on her rise to the top, dark secrets are discovered about both Yeimi and the family she’s made her own that set them on a collision course towards a reckoning that could destroy them all. The premise is described as a “ Count of Monte Cristo -esque tale set against the backdrop of Latin music.” The series is a co-production between … [Read more...] about Becky G In Talks To Headline ‘Queen Of Flow’ Drama Based On Telenovela In Works At Peacock From Jorge Reyes, UTV & Westbrook

Anne Hathaway ( Eileen ) has signed on to star in a mysterious new film that David Robert Mitchell ( It Follows , Under the Silver Lake ) will direct for Warner Bros. Pictures , Bad Robot and Jackson Pictures. While the pic is billed as a “thrill-ride” to be shot in IMAX, which will head into production this fall, other details are scarce at present. Mitchell penned the original script and will produce alongside J.J. Abrams and Hannah Minghella for Bad Robot , and Jackson Pictures’ Matt Jackson. Jake Weiner and Chris Bender of Good Fear Content will serve as exec producers. Other projects currently in development at Warner Bros Discovery under the studio’s deal with Bad Robot include a Ta-Nehisi Coates-scripted Superman film; an animated adaptation of Dr. Seuss’s iconic children’s book Oh, the Places You’ll Go! to be directed by Jon M. Chu; the Jason Bateman-directed supernatural Western, The Pinkerton ; and a live-action Hot Wheels pic to be made in … [Read more...] about David Robert Mitchell, Anne Hathaway, Bad Robot Team For Mystery Warner Bros. Pic

UK director Lynne Ramsay enjoyed international recognition early on in her career after short films Small Deaths and Gasman were invited to the Cannes and won the Jury Prize in its short film competition in 1996 and 1998 respectively. “That was the first film festival I went to. It was so overwhelming,” Ramsay told a masterclass for the Doha Film Institute this week . “When Gasman won a prize and [Francis Ford] Coppola gave me the prize, that opened the way for me to make other films.” The film’s reception in L.A., when Ramsay showed them there as part of a British Film Institute talent showcase in the late 1990s, was less enthusiastic. Revolving around a young girl who slowly discovers a puzzling side to her father’s life during an outing to a Christmas party, Gasman shows the protagonist and other characters from the waist down only in the opening scene and other parts of the film. “The Hollywood producers who saw it said, ‘Did the camera slip because you … [Read more...] about Lynne Ramsay Talks Love Of Shorts, The Art Of Adaptation & Why She Has No Plans To Make A Series – Qumra Masterclass

EXCLUSIVE: Universal Pictures and Platinum Dunes producers Michael Bay and Brad Fuller continue to stay busy on the banner’s new overall deal, as sources tell Deadline that Universal will develop Lure , which Platinum Dunes is producing. Corin Hardy has signed on to direct the project currently being written by Chris Bernier. While plot details are being kept under wraps, the story is based on the haunting of the real-life King’s Tavern, considered to be the most haunted building in all of Mississippi, with one of its tenants being the murdered mistress of one of the tavern’s original owners. Universal Pictures EVP Production Development Matt Reilly will oversee the project for the studio. Cameron Fuller will executive produce and oversee the project for Platinum Dunes. Hardy has a reputation for having developed a dark and distinctive visual flair for creating monsters, animations and Super-8 horror films in his work-shed before gaining industry experience in … [Read more...] about Platinum Dunes Developing Thriller ‘Lure’ At Universal With ‘Gangs Of London’s Corin Hardy Directing

Mike Faist and Oscar-nominated actor Lucas Hedges will star in a London stage adaptation of Annie Proulx’s short story Brokeback Mountain . The production is described as a play with music and will run at the Sohoplace Theatre in the West End for a 12-week season beginning May 10. Theater owner and producer Nica Burns stressed that the play is based on Proulx’s short story originally published in the New Yorker in 1997 and not on Ang Lee’s acclaimed 2005 film that starred Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal. Faist, who landed a BAFTA nom for West Side Story , will play the part of Jack Twist. Hedges, whose Oscar nom was for Manchester By the Sea in 2016, will play Ennis Del Mar. The story of two lonesome cowboys who fall in love in the big, wide open spaces of Wyoming touched a chord with those who read the story and caught the movie. Brooklyn-based writer Ashley Robinson approached Proulx about the stage rights and she granted them. Jonathan Butterell, … [Read more...] about ‘Brokeback Mountain’ Adapted For West End Stage; Mike Faist And Lucas Hedges To Star

On the heels of a breakout performance in The White Lotus Season 2, Will Sharpe has been tapped to direct Crying in H Mart for MGM ‘s Orion Pictures , Deadline can confirm. The coming-of-age tale based on Michelle Zauner’s beloved memoir, which spent over 60 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, follows a half-Korean daughter who returns to small town Oregon to care for her Korean mother. Critical and smothering Chong-mi and creative and independent Michelle struggle to understand each other across a cultural fault line, only learning to see and accept one another through the formative power of music and the vibrant flavors of Korean cooking. Best known as the front woman for the Grammy-nominated indie band Japanese Breakfast, Zauner will adapt the screenplay, also playing a part in the creation of the film’s music. Stacey Sher will produce alongside Jason Kim. Sharpe is best known for his role as Ethan, a newly rich tech entrepreneur whose … [Read more...] about ‘The White Lotus’ Star Will Sharpe To Direct ‘Crying In H Mart’ For MGM’s Orion