Composer Herdís Stefánsdóttir on HBO’s Fabulous New Unscripted Series We’re Here
There’s a new unscripted show in town, and it wants you to know We’re Here. That’s both the name and the aesthetic of co-creators Johnny Ingram and Stephen Warren’s fabulous, fierce, and fun show featuring renowned drag queens Eureka O’Hara, Shangela Laquifa Wadley, and Bob the Drag Queen. On the series, the Queens drive into towns across America, and recruit local residents representing a wide swath of humanity as ‘drag daughters,’ to participate in a one-night-only drag show.
A New Female-Centered Star Wars Series Coming to Disney+ From Russian Doll Co-Creator
Well we can’t say we saw this one coming. Leslye Headland, the co-creator of Netflix’s Russian Doll, (a brilliant sci-fi comedy on Netflix that we highly recommend if you haven’t already seen it), has successfully pitched a new Star Wars series for Disney+, which she’ll be writing and showrunning. The story was initially broken by Variety, which reports that Headland’s new series, which is already staffing,
HBO Renews Westworld for Season 4
However this wacky, gorgeously shot third season of Westworld concludes, we now know that the story will continue. HBO has officially confirmed that the sentient hosts and morally vacuous humans they alternately fight and befriend will be back for a fourth season. The news came via Tweet and press release—rejoice, Westworld fans!
This is now.#Westworld has been renewed for Season 4. pic.twitter.com/GTnF4YVB6e
— Westworld (@WestworldHBO) April 22,
The Last Dance Soars as ESPN’s Most Watched Documentary Ever
Have you been watching ESPN’s The Last Dance? If so, you’re one of the millions of people who have devoured the first two episodes of their new documentary, which focuses on Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls and their run for a sixth championship in the 1997/98 season. ESPN has revealed that the first two episodes of the 10-part series averaged 6.1 million viewers. The premiere episodes “rank as the two most-viewed original content broadcasts on ESPN Networks since 2004,
HBO Max Reveals Release Date & New Trailers
It’s official—HBO Max will begin streaming on May 27, 2020. The new platform from Warner Media has revealed its release date and a slew of its upcoming Max Originals, which will all be available on the very first day. These new titles include the intriguing unground ballroom dance competition series Legendary, which includes celebrity judges like Megan Thee Stallion (and looks absolutely terrific.) There’s scripted comedy on the docket in the form of Love Life,
VFX Producer Andrea Knoll on Creating the Futuristic Yet Natural World in Tales from the Loop
Tales from the Loop, Amazon’s latest sci-fi offering which stars Rebecca Hall and Jonathan Pryce, resists easy definition. Set in Ohio but based on paintings of Sweden, the residents of the small town at the center of the series are all loosely bound by a machine known as the Loop, a technology intended to unlock the universe’s mysteries and the town’s main employer. Thanks to decades in business and the abandonment of various detritus—robots and body-switching contraptions left in the woods,
Here’s the Trailer For Ryan Murphy’s Ambitious New Netflix Series Hollywood
Ryan Murphy taking on Hollywood in the glamorous (and often odious) period after World War II? Yeah, that sounds like a series we could get into. Netflix has revealed the first trailer for Murphy’s glam, grand, intriguing new series, which takes on Hollywood’s Golden Age by following a slew of up-and-coming actors and filmmakers as they attempt to succeed in a town that crushes dreams as quickly as it makes them.
What makes Murphy’s Hollywood fascinating is that it’s not just a glitzy look at what Hollywood was like when the dinosaurs of the industry were in total,
Unorthodox Director Maria Schrader on Creating Netflix’s Surprising Hit Series
Maria Schrader is best known for her award-winning acting roles — she starred in the acclaimed wartime romance Aimee and Jaguar (1999) and plays Stasi agent Lenora Rauch in the spy thriller Deutschland 83 and Deutschland 86 now on Hulu — but she’s also an esteemed director. In both her exquisite biopic about the Austrian writer Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe (2016) and, now, as director of all four episodes of the hit Netflix series Unorthodox,
Under Lockdown, Tech & Film Meet in New Ways to Un-Stall an Industry on Hold
The first feature film made entirely over Zoom may still be a blessed long way off, but in accordance with COVID-19 social distancing procedures, formerly eschewed technologies are finding a current warm welcome among the film and television industry. Whether it’s a newfound acceptance of older, familiar names like Skype, or industry-specific digital tools being put to creative off-label uses, it’s thanks to technology that film crews can,
The Mandalorian Gets a Documentary Series on Disney+
For all you Star Wars fans out there mourning the end of the Skywalker Saga and the gaping, galactic hole between now and any fresh films or TV series, Disney+ has some good news for you. You will now be getting an eight-episode docuseries that will reveal how their first-ever live-action Star Wars series, The Mandalorian, was made.
Assuming you’ve already watched The Mandalorian (and The Clone Wars),
Episode 3 of John Krasinski’s Some Good News Features Another Epic Cameo
John Krasinski and his talented family released the third episode of their now beloved YouTube series Some Good News yesterday, and, spoiler alert, it was just as charming as the previous two episodes. After managing to get the entire original cast of Hamilton together for episode two, Krasinski was back with a new episode that featured another look at the heroic healthcare professionals fighting the spread of COVID-19.
SNL Delivered Their First-Ever Remotely Produced Episode
Joining their late-night, weeknight comedy brothers and sisters in delivering episodes from home, Saturday Night Live filed their first remotely produced episode during the COVID-19 pandemic. Considering the large ensemble, highly complex sets, celebrity hosts and musical guests, SNL is a very hard show to pull off remotely. You can’t just whip up an instant classic digital short like Grouch via Zoom.
Run DP Melds Drama and Rom-Com Elements in HBO’s New Series
Merritt Wever won a comedy Emmy for Nurse Jackie, picked up a drama Emmy as the rifle-wrangling pioneer in Godless and last year wowed critics for her empathetic turn as a sex crimes detective in Unbelievable. Now she’s mixing it up in HBO’s black-humored thriller Run (it premiered this past Sunday night, April 12). Job one for cinematographer Matthew Clark: capture the chemistry between Wever’s bored housewife Ruby and Domhnall Gleeson,
Disney+ Reveals Maggie Simpson Short Film Playdate With Destiny Coming Tomorrow
Yes, your streaming options are bountiful, but there’s something special about finding out there’s a brand new animated short revolving around The Simpsons’ most reliably adorable character, Maggie. Disney+ has announced that Playdate With Destiny, a new animated short film starring the one and only Maggie, will be available for streaming starting tomorrow, Friday, April 10. Disney+ made the announcement via Twitter, with a note from The Simpsons creator Matt Groening.
Netflix Reveals First Images of Steve Carell’s Space Force + Release Date & Cast
When Netflix announced that it had tapped Steve Carell and The Office creator Greg Daniels to create a new show for the streaming giant, hopes were high that we’d get something as irresistibly funny (and perfectly cast) as their now legendary collaboration. We now have our first glimpse at their effort, Space Force, which stars Carell as four-star general and highly accomplished veteran pilot Mark R. Naird,
CBS Bringing Back Sunday Night Movies, Sony Pictures Reveals KIDS ZONE!
Studios all across the world are dealing with production shutdowns due to the spread of COVID-19. Now that we’re weeks into this unprecedented scenario, we’re starting to see how the folks who make our films and television shows are getting creative. Universal Pictures is already running first-run films in your home, with other studios following suit, including Warner Bros., Disney, and Lionsgate. HBO has made 500 hours worth of programming free for a limited time,
Good Deeds Give us Reason to Hope (And Applaud)
If you’re lucky enough to be able to social distance and healthy enough to “simply” worry and absorb a relentless amount of bad news, then you’re probably primed for a little bit of positivity. If you live in a city where there’s nightly applause for our heroic healthcare workers, you’ve gotten a taste of how good it feels to take a moment to marvel at the courage and compassion of people all around us. People we usually don’t think about that much about.
Little Fires Everywhere Cinematographer Jeffrey Waldron on Crafting Chaos Beneath the Surface
One of the many, many odd things about life mid-pandemic is how suddenly bizarre it is to watch shows and films that depict people touching, hugging, kissing, and gathering in large numbers. Even the folks who just filmed these series agree. There’s a kind of pre-coronavirus surreality to it, and if the show or movie doesn’t hold your attention, you can, at least for this viewer, find yourself more invested in how weird it is to see people cavalierly not keeping their distance than you are in the actual story.
John Krasinski & Emily Blunt Reunited the Hamilton Cast on Some Good News
The second episode of Some Good News, John Krasinski’s charming DIY series on YouTube, is epic. Not that the first glimpse of Krasinski’s surprise show, which is produced with help from his talented family, wasn’t sensational. The first episode included an interview between Krasinski and Steve Carell about their work on The Office, which was timed to the show’s 15th anniversary, some love for the heroes working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic,
Never Have I Ever Director Kabir Akhtar on Filming Mindy Kaling’s New Netflix Series
When director Kabir Akhtar heard the news that producer/writer/star Mindy Kaling was, along with co-creator Lang Fisher, putting together a new series at Netflix that would focus on a first-generation Indian American teenage girl, he thought, I need to be a part of this.
“Just the idea that a show could be made about a first-generation South Asian American,” Akhtar says, a first-generation South Asian American himself, who grew up in suburban Philadelphia,
