Month: May 2021

Peter Facinelli has been cast in new CBS drama series S.W.A.T. for what is expected to be a recurring role.

Inspired by the 2003 film, S.W.A.T. centers on a locally born-and-bred SWAT sergeant (Shemar Moore) who’s torn between loyalty to the streets and duty to his fellow officers when he’s tasked to run a specialized tactical unit that is the last stop in law enforcement in Los Angeles. Stephanie Sigman, Alex Russell, Lina Esco, Kenneth Johnson, Peter Onorati and Jay Harrington also star.

Facinelli plays Michael Plank, a confident, powerful businessman who also volunteers as a civilian Police Commissioner and head of the Police Board. While attending a charity event at SWAT headquarters, he is introduced to the team. When Jessica (Sigman) presents him with a list of innovations she’s drawn up for the department to improve its relationship with the community, he’s deeply impressed by her passion and imagination but wants to help her refine her proposals. He expresses an intention to take Jessica under his wing and sees a bright future for her, but just what that future entails in his mind remains to be seen.

The series is produced by MiddKid Productions, Original Film, Perfect Storm Entertainment and Wyandotte Entertainment in association with Sony Pictures Television and CBS Television Studios.

Facinelli is next set to star in indie feature Asher being directed by Michael Canton-Jones. He also has two indie features in post-production: Wilde Wedding and Absence of Men. Facinelli also in is post on his directorial debut, feature Breaking and Exiting, written by and starring Jordan Hinson and co-starring Milo Gibson. His TV series credits include Six Feet Under, Damages and Nurse Jackie. He’s repped by Zero Gravity Management and Paradigm.

S.W.A.T. premieres at 10 PM Thursday, November 2, on CBS.

Kat Graham, one of the stars of The Vampire Diaries, is joining Frank Grillo and Tyler Posey in Decoy, an action thriller to be directed by Allan Ungar.

Andy Garcia is also starring in the movie, which is eyeing a start later this month in Toronto. Andrew Gunn, Michael Bien and Angela Donald are set to produce for Gunn Films and Cedarvale Pictures.

Billed as a cross between Enemy of the State and Mr. Robot, Decoyfollows a young identity thief (Posey) who finds himself being hunted by the NSA after he unwittingly steals the identity of a wanted man.

Graham will play a hacker who forms an unlikely alliance with Posey as they attempt to uncover the truth.

David Benullo wrote the script. Henry Less, Don Young, Tom North, Tannaz Anisi, Greg Schenz and Ben Shahrabani are executive producing.

Graham recently played Jada Pinkett in the Tupac Shakur biopic All Eyez on Me and will be seen in the upcoming Netflix thriller How It Ends alongside Forest Whitaker and Theo James.

She is repped by WME and Brillstein Entertainment Partners.

The movie about the Chicago Cubs World Series win is moving forward. Shane Abbess, an Australian director who is a major baseball fan, has been signed to direct Teammate, the movie about the Chicago Cubs winning its first World Series since 1908. Die-hard Cubbie fan Bill Murray has been in talks to join the team as manager Joe Maddon but it’s not clear yet whether that will happen.

The feature film, produced by Chicagoan Ted Field through his Radar Pictures, is about the Cubs stunning 2016 win and based on the book by retired catcher David Ross and Don Yaeger Teammate: My Journey in Baseball and a World Series for the Ages. Catcher Ross played inthe league for 15 years and had been a Cub all of 2-3 years which culminated in the incredible 3-to-1 win over the Cleveland Indians in what became a 10-inning Game 7 of the World Series.

In the sixth inning, Ross gave the team a 6-to-3 lead when he homered to become the oldest player to do so in a Game 7, but that was not without an error beforehand after a wild pitch from Jon Lester. It was a nail-biting series for loyal fans and brought home the trophy to Chicago after 108 years.

The project, filled with ups and downs of that series and Game 7, was scripted by Ram Getz and John Corcoran. Getz is also producing with Lisette Bross, Ross and Yaeger on board as executive producers. Ian Kleinert’s Objective Entertainment will co-produce (Kleinert and Ryan Gleichowski).

Abbess is probably best known for his sci-fi film Gabriel, but has also another sci-fi film The Osiris Child. He is repped by Australian manager Mark Morrissey from Morrissey Management, Zero Gravity Management, WME and Marks Law Group.

Oscar winner Louis Gossett Jr. (An Officer and a Gentleman, Roots), Psych alum Corbin Bernsen and Dice star Andrew Dice Clay are set for recurring roles in the upcoming third season of SundanceTV’s critically-praised anthology series Hap & Leonard.

Based on Joe R. Lansdale’s popular book series, Hap & Leonard follows two lifelong best friends, Hap Collins (James Purefoy), an East Texas white boy with a weakness for Southern women, and Leonard Pine (Michael K. Williams), a gay, black Vietnam vet with a hot temper. Season 3 is based on the third installment of Lansdale’s series, The Two-Bear Mambo, and is set for premiere in early 2018.

Gossett Jr. plays Bacon, a veterinarian-turned-cook at the local diner. Bernsen will portray Chief Cantuck, the foul-mouthed, morally ambiguous head of the Grovetown Police department. Clay is Sonny Knox, the town’s politically incorrect radio disc jockey. In addition, Laura Allen (American Horror Story: Cult) plays Officer Reynolds, an East Texas cop who hides her bigotry behind her badge, Sydney Wease (The Vampire Diaries), portrays Belinda, ethereal teenage waif, mute since a mysterious abduction, and musician Curtis Harding plays blues legend, L.C. Soothe, and L.C.’s grandson, Bobby Joe, both of whom run afoul of the Klan. Tiffany Mack (Florida Grange) and Cranston Johnson (Detective Hanson) return as series regulars.

John Wirth (Hell on Wheels, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) returns as showrunner and executive producer for season three, and Jim Mickle, Nick Damici, Jeremy Platt and Linda Moran return as executive producers.

Gossett Jr, who won an Oscar for his performance in An Officer and a Gentleman, will next be seen in a starring role in feature Breaking Brooklyn. He’s repped by Zero Gravity Management.

Psych and L.A. Law alum Bernsen will next be seen in Jarret Tarnol’s high school dramedy Reach.

Clay can currently be seen on his series Dice now in its second season on Showtime. He’ll next appear in Warner Brothers remake of A Star is Born, and continues to perform his stand-up across the country. Clay is repped by Abrams Artists Agency and managed by Bruce Rubenstein.

Troy Doherty and Leo Oliva are set to recur in the upcoming fifth season of TNT’s drama series, The Last Ship, which will premiere sometime next year. Co-created by Hank Steinberg and Steve Kane, the postapocalyptic naval drama stars Eric Dane, Adam Baldwin and Bridget Regan.

The series details the aftermath of a global catastrophe that nearly decimates the world’s population. Now, CNO Captain Tom Chandler (Dane) and his crew must confront the reality of their new existence in a world where they may be among the few remaining survivors. Doherty will play Clayton, a cadet at the U.S. Navel Academy who becomes Chandler’s protege. Oliva is Pena, the scariest of Octavio’s special operators.

Kane and Steinberg also serve as exec producers along with Michael Bay, Brad Fuller, Andrew Form, and Paul Holahan.

Doherty, whose credits include Ryan Frost’s recently released post-9/11 indie film September Morning and the Fullscreen series Filthy Preppy Teen$, is repped by Innovative and Zero Gravity Management. Oliva, repped by Stewart Talent and The Zachary Co, recently booked guest spots on Amazon’s I Love Dick, CBS’ Scorpion and NCIS: Los Angeles.

Genre bigwigs Mick Garris, Joe Dante, David Slade, Ryuhei Kitamura and Alejandro Brugues have joined together with Cinelou Films and Good Deed Entertainment for Nightmare Cinema, an anthology horror movie in the works made up of five short films that will share a common thread. Mickey Rourke has been set to play the ringmaster of sorts to link the stories.

The anthology will center on a series of down-on-their-luck individuals who enter the decrepit and spine-chilling Rialto theater, only to have their deepest and darkest fears brought to life on the silver screen by The Projectionist (Rourke) – a mysterious, ghostly figure who holds the nightmarish futures of all who attend his screenings. By the time our patrons realize the truth, escape is no longer an option.

Garris is producing via his Nice Guy Productions, along with Courtney Solomon and

Mark Canton from Cinelou and Joe Russo. Good Deed’s Scott Donley and Lenny Shapiro, the Fyzz Facility’s Wayne Marc Godfrey and Robert Jones, and Cinelou’s Scott Karol are executive producers.

The producers say A TV series based on the idea is also in the works, harkening to the days of shows like Twilight Zone and Tales From The Crypt.

“We’re excited about Nightmare Cinema,” said Canton. “When Mick Garris brought us the opportunity to collaborate with a group like this, it was easy to get behind. Horror has become an industry strength again. When you look around at recent successes of films like It or Get Out, it’s obvious there’s a hungry audience out there that can’t be ignored.”

Said Garris: “I love being able to bring together visionaries of horror cinema from all around the world with their personal perspectives about what scares you. This is a project I’ve been working on for some time and I couldn’t be more thrilled to partner with Cinelou and Good Deed to share with everyone.”

TrustNordisk has boarded international sales for Swoon, directed by Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein.

The film is shooting now and is slated for release in Sweden in December 2018.

Swoon is about the heirs to two rival amusement parks in Stockholm who unexpectedly fall in love in the shadow of the Second World War. The filmmakers describe it as “a magical and swirling tale of war, treachery and forbidden love”.

The directing duo – who created acclaimed 2011 Nordic noir TV series The Bridge – most recently made TV show Midnight Sun, which was sold to more than 90 territories. Their feature credits include Underworld: Awakening, which made more than $160m at the global box office, and thriller Shelter starring Julianne Moore and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers. Marlind and Stein are represented by Paradigm and Zero Gravity Management in the U.S.

Kristina Åberg produces for Atmo Rights with Nordisk handling Scandinavian distribution; backers include Nordisk Film & TV Fond and the Swedish Film Institute.

Atmo’s credits include Tarik Saleh’s Sundance award-winning The Nile Hilton Incident, Erik Gandini’s Videocracy and Lisa Aschan’s She Monkeys.

NBC has put in development an untitled crime drama, aka Deadline, from CSI alum Josh Berman, Timeless co-executive producer Matt Whitney and Sony Pictures TV Studios.

Written by Whitney, the project centers on a former FBI agent who, after a traumatic experience, takes a job as an investigative journalist at a well-known and widely circulated weekly magazine – reporting on high-profile crimes, seeking justice for victims, their families and the falsely accused. Depending on the story, she can be an asset to her former colleagues at the FBI, or a thorn in their side.

Berman executive produces via his Osprey Productions alongside the company’s head of production and development Chris King, as well as Whitney and Jess Cagle. The project falls under Berman’s overall deal at Sony TV and stems from a blind script deal Whitney has at the studio.

This is Berman’s second sale this season to NBC. He also has legal drama Closurewith executive producer John Legend, which received a put pilot commitment.

Whitney, who also served as a writer-producer on CSI: Cyber and White Collar, is repped by ICM Partners, Zero Gravity Management, and Erik Hyman.

Berman spent six years on CBS’ crime procedural CSI, rising to executive producer. At Sony TV, where he has been for more than a decade, Berman created/co-created three series, Drop Dead Diva on Lifetime, The Mob Doctor on Fox and Notorious on ABC. He also worked on the studios’ The Blacklist and Daytime Divas. He is repped by CAA.

Netflix has given an eight-episode straight-to-series order to The Green Beret’s Guide to Surviving the Apocalypse, a hybrid scripted/unscripted comedy written, produced by and starring two military veterans, Shawn Vance, a former United States Special forces Green Beret, and Daril Fanin, a former combat army medic,

The duo brought the idea for a real-life “survival guide” series to Matt Damon who, along with Jennifer Todd, came on board to executive produce through their Pearl Street Films. They in turn brought the project to Peter Berg, Matt Goldberg and Brandon Carroll of Film 45, who also executive are producing.

The Green Beret’s Guide to Surviving the Apocalypse is a hybrid action comedy, described as a mix of a survival show full of usable survival skills and how-to’s as well as smart low-brow humor. It is an anthology series, with each episode chronicling its own contained apocalypse as survived by the show’s hero, Shawn (Vance).

The unconventional comedy received a green light from Netflix, and I hear it recently wrapped production on its eight-episode order in Vancouver, Canada.

Vance and Fanin are repped by WME, attorney Derek Kroeger and Zero Gravity Management. Damon and Berg also are with WME.

Queen Sugar actress KJ Smith is set for a recurring role on the CW’s upcoming Dynasty reboot. Co-written by Josh Schwartz & Stephanie Savage and Sallie Patrick, the new Dynasty follows two of America’s wealthiest families, the Carringtons and the Colbys, as they feud for control over their fortune and their children. Smith will play Kori Rucks. Character details are being kept under wraps. Smith, whose other TV credits include Survivor’s Remorse and BET’s Being Mary Jane, will appear in Liongate’s upcoming Madea’s Family Funeral. She’s repped by Zero Gravity Management and People Store.