Small Screen: Abubakr Ali First Arab Muslim Actor To Portray A Series Lead In A Comic Book Adaptation; Briana Nicole Henry Departs ‘General Hospital’
Briana Nicole Henry - ABC
Broadcast: General Hospital’s Briana Nicole Henry, better known on the show as Jordan Ashford, announced her departure on an instagram post. The caption on the post went as follows: ‘As I celebrated my third year of being on General Hospital yesterday, I also watched my last episode as Jordan Ashford air. People kept asking me how it felt to have ended my time on the show, and it wasn’t until yesterday that it really sank in, as I watched Jordan’s goodbye to her family and knew the tears you saw were real tears between not just colleagues but friends. I decided it was time for me to move on from @generalhospitalabc and I got nothing but love and support from everyone involved. Every single person in my @generalhospitalabc family that helped me make GH my home over the last three years, especially @fvalentinigh . From the crew, to my cast mates to our security guard Emma, there were multiple people on any given day that brought such a smile and warmth to my heart.’ She concluded with a message to her fans saying: ‘To the fans, it took me a while to win you over, but once you saw my heart you made me feel so much love. I hope I brought something unique and honest to your beloved character of Jordan Ashford, she’s one helluva woman. Until next time loves.’
Fox’s upcoming musical drama Monarch has just cast Meagan Holder (Dave and Pitch) as one of the lead cast members as successful music manager and wife of Gigi Taylor-Roman Kayla Taylor-Roman. The show created by Melissa London Hilfers is ‘described as a Texas-sized, multigenerational musical drama about America’s first family of country music, the Romans. The Romans are headed by the insanely talented, but tough as nails Queen of Country Music Dottie Cantrell Roman (Susan Sarandon). Along with her beloved husband, Albie (Trace Adkins), Dottie has created a country music dynasty. But even though the Roman name is synonymous with authenticity, the very foundation of their success is a lie. And when their reign as country royalty is put in jeopardy, heir to the crown Nicolette “Nicky” Roman (Anna Friel) will stop at nothing to protect her family’s legacy, while ensuring her own quest for stardom.’
Maulik Pancholy - Rodin Eckenroth / Stringer
Cable: Maulik Pancholy, known for 30 Rock, published a book last fall entitled The Best At It. A debut coming of age story that chronicles the life of Rahul Kapoor, ‘a gay Indian American teenager dealing with seventh grade, crushes and anxiety in small-town Indiana as he and his family seek to become the best versions of themselves.’ Fast forward to present day and HBO Max has secured the rights to adapt the project. Pancholy is attached to script the adaptation alongside Michael Golamco - co-writer of Always Be My Maybe.
The production team behind The Uncanny Counter are at it again with a new superhero-themed drama entitled Bad and Crazy. Cha Hak-yeon is attached in a supporting role as a ‘small-town rookie cop named Oh Kyung-tae, who’s the youngest on the force, and a caring person who can’t pass by anyone in need. Although he looks pure and simple-minded, he’s actually very detail-oriented when it comes to his work, and he pursues leads until the end.’ The leads on the project are Lee Dong-wook and Han Ji-eun. It is directed by Yoo Seon-dong and penned by Kim Sae-bom. Bad and Crazy will premiere this December on tvN.
Abubakr Ali - abubakrali.com
Streaming: Matt Wagner’s popular, award-winning Dark Horse comic book series Grendel, has just received an eight episode series order by Netflix. Cast as the lead is Abubakr Ali known for his roles in Power Book II: Ghost and Katy Keene. He made history as the first Arab Muslim actor to portray a series lead in a comic book adaptation. Andrew Dabb helms the project as showrunner, script writer and executive producer. ‘Grendel follows Hunter Rose (Ali), a gifted fencer, writer and assassin, seeking to avenge the death of a lost love. He goes to war with New York’s criminal underworld, only to realize…why beat them, when you can join them?’ Other attached to the project are Jaime Ray Newman (Dopesick, The Time Traveler’s Wife), Julian Black Antelope (The Flash, Debris), Madeline Zima (Californication, Hacks), Kevin Corrigan (Scenes from an Empty Church, The Get Down), Emma Ho (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, The Expanse), Erik Palladino (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Watchmen), Brittany Allen (What Keeps You Alive)and Andy Mientus (The Flash, Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings).
Neil Gaiman’s best-selling novel Anansi Boys is being adapted into a newly ordered six-episode limited series for Amazon. Starring in the lead role is BAFTA TV winner Malachi Kirby, known for his role as Darcus Howe in Mangrove. He is attached alongside Delroy Lindo and the duo will portray brothers Carles Nancy and Spider. The upcoming drama will begin filming in Scotland near the end of this year.
South African Broadcasting Corporation
Industry: The most recent study from San Diego State University’s Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film revealed streaming services give women more major character roles than broadcast networks. According to the study: ‘Women comprised 52 percent of major characters on streaming programs but 45 percent on broadcast series, according to Boxed In: Women on Screen and Behind the Scenes on Broadcast and Streaming Television in 2020-21. Analyzing 3,429 people onscreen and 4,434 behind the scenes across dramas, comedies and reality shows over the past TV season, the study also found more offscreen inclusion for women in streaming, where they accounted for 30 percent of creators, 31 percent of directors and 24 percent of editors, compared to 22 percent, 19 percent and 15 percent, respectively, at the networks. Broadcast network shows fared better when it came to inclusion of women from underrepresented races, with more Black women (23 percent) and Latina (8 percent) speaking characters than streaming programs had (20 percent and six percent, respectively). However, there were slightly more Asian women characters on streamers (11 percent) than on broadcast (nine percent).’
This past March eMedia Holdings and the South African public broadcaster made a promise to the public announcing the addition of 3 planned SABC TV Channels to be placed on Openview by the end of a three month deadline. By the time June rolled around, eMedia and the SABC remained in a state of silence in regard to their promise. Since then questions have been flying in the broadcaster's direction and a statement was given. Though no deadline was announced, eMedia confirms two more channels are coming and said there was a break in the agreement but everything is back on track.
Over the past few years Internet Connected TV’s better known as CTVs have seen a persistent rise in demand. However, in regard to the current markets saturation there seems to be a slight leveling out. According to data from TDG: ‘In Q2 2021, 86% of broadband households in the U.S. have a CTV compared to just 50%b in 2013. However, this year’s statistic is only up 1% since 2020, the smallest growth we’ve seen. That’s because the market is reaching a plateau since most people have already adopted CTVs and Smart TVs for streaming. When products and services near saturation, growth declines to the low single digits and the market becomes a zero-sum game in which one operator’s gains are actually the losses of another,” TDG’s report states.’
