Small Screen: Australian Soap ‘Neighbours’ Resurrected By Amazon Freevee; Natasha Rothwell To Write And Star In New Hulu Comedy Series
Isabella Gomez - JC Olivera / Stringer
Broadcast: ABC’s The Goldbergs has added One Day at a Time’s Isabella Gomez to the cast for the show’s tenth season. Gomez will make her debut as Carmen, a waitress at the 50’s themed diner where Adam (Sean Giambrone) works at, on the Nov 30th episode titled “Million Dollar Reward.” The Goldbergs is produced by Happy Madison and Doug Robinson Productions in association with Sony Pictures Television, with star Wendi McLendon-Covey, Doug Robinson, Alex Barnow, Chris Bishop, Annette Davis, Mike Sikowitz (who wrote the episode) and David Guarascio serving as executive producers.
Alvina August - Rodin Eckenroth / Stringer
Cable: Bob Odenkirk’s new series Straight Man for AMC has cast Alvina August, currently starring in the CW series Nancy Drew, in a recurring role. Adapted by Aaron Zelman and Paul Lieberstein from Richard Russo’s novel of the same name, the show stars Odenkirk as college English department chair William Henry Devereaux Jr., along with Sara Amini, Diedrich Bader, Suzanne Cryer, Mireille Enos, Olivia Scott Welch, Arthur Keng and Cedric Yarbrough. August joins them as an English professor named June Washington-Chen, wife of fellow English professor Teddy Washington-Chen (Keng). Zelman, Lieberstein, serve as co-showrunners and will executive produce with Odenkirk, director Peter Farrelly, Russo, Naomi Odenkirk, Mark Johnson and Marc Provissiero.
Natasha Rothwell - David Livingston / Stringer
Streaming: Actor Alexis Rodney has been cast in the upcoming series for Netflix The Gentlemen, from director Guy Ritchie. The Outlander actor joins Theo James, Giancarlo Esposito, Kaya Scodelario, Daniel Ings, Joely Richardson, Peter Serafinowicz and Vinnie Jones in the eight-part series set in the world of Ritchie’s 2019 action comedy of the same name. Filming now in the UK, the series was created by Ritchie, who co-wrote the pilot with Matthew Read and is directing the fist two episodes. He also serves as executive producer along with Marn Davies, Ivan Atkinson, Marc Helwig, Will Gould, and Frith Tiplady.
The Flight Attendant’s David Iacono has been added to the cast of the HBO Max series Dead Boy Detectives. Iacono will play a key recurring role in the eight-part drama series based on the Neil Gaiman DC Comics characters. Created by The Flight Attendant’s Steve Yockey, Doom Patrol’s Jeremy Carver, Berlanti Productions, and Warner Bros. Television, Dead Boy Detectives also stars George Rexstrew, Jayden Revri, Kassius Nelson, Briana Cuoco, Ruth Connell, Yuyu Kitamura, and Jenn Lyon. The show is described as a “vintage detective series” about two dead British teenagers, and their alive friend, with the pilot written by Yockey and directed by Lee Toland Krieger. Yockey also serves as co-showrunner with Beth Schwartz. The two will also executive produce alongside Jeremy Carver, Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and Leigh London Redman.
Luciane Buchanan (Mr. Corman) will star opposite Jason Momoa and Temuera Morrison in the upcoming Apple TV+ series Chief Of War. The nine-episode series was co-created by Momoa and Thomas Pa’a Sibbett who serve as executive producers along with Francis Lawrence, Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping, Doug Jung, Molly Allen, Brian Mendoza, Anders Engstrom and Justin Chon. The show’s tagline states that it “follows the epic and unprecedented telling of the unification and colonization of Hawaii from an indigenous point of view” and Buchanan’s character Ka’ahumanu is described as “intelligent and progressive in thought.”
The upcoming Hulu limited series La Máquina starring Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luno has added five more to its cast. Lucía Méndez and Jorge Perugorría are joining as series regulars while Karina Gidi, Raul Briones, and Luis Gnecco have been tapped for heavily recurring roles. Produced by Searchlight Television, 20th Television, and Bernal and Luna’s La Corriente del Golfo, the series about an aging boxer (Bernal) whose manager (Luna) secures him one last shot at a title will stream on Disney’s DTC platforms as a Hulu Original. Actor and musical artist Méndez portrays Andy’s (Luna) mother, Josefina, while writer and director Perugorría portrays Esteban’s (Bernal) long-time trainer, Sixto. Un extrańo enemigo’s Gidi plays Andy’s wife, Una Película de Policías’ Briones plays a police officer, and Los Espookys’ Gnecco plays a journalist.
Insecure and The White Lotus star Natasha Rothwell is set to write and star in a new half-hour comedy series for Hulu called How To Die Alone. The eight-episode show was greenlit by Onyx Collective, with Pen15’s Vera Santamaria serving as co-showrunner with Rothwell, who has an overall deal with ABC Signature and Onyx Collective via her Big Hattie Productions banner. The two will also executive produce with Desiree Akhavan.
The long-running Australian soap opera Neighbours, that seemingly ended for good after 37 years on the air, is being resurrected by Amazon Freevee. Together with the show’s producer Freemantle, the platform announced that a new season would start shooting in Australia next year and premiere exclusively, and for free, on Amazon Freevee in the U.K. and U.S. along with thousands of episodes from previous seasons. The supposed final episode of the show aired in July and featured special appearances from famous past cast members including Guy Pearce, Kylie Minogue, and Margot Robbie garnering almost 1.4 million viewers in Australia and just over 4 million viewers in the U.K. The soap’s original channel, Australia’s Network 10, will retain first-run rights in Australia for the new series. The new season is still executive produced by Jason Herbison and Andrew Thompson
Industry’s Alex Alomar Akpobome, Good Trouble’s Aisha Alfa, and Babylon’s Li Jun Li are among five new cast members recently announced to be joining the Peacock series Based On A True Story. They join Natalia Dyer, Annabelle Dexter-Jones, Kaley Cuoco, Chris Messina, Tom Bateman, Liana Liberato, and Priscilla Quintana true crime project that received a straight-to-series order back in April. Craig Rosenberg serves as writer, executive producer, and showrunner, with Jason Bateman, Michael Costigan, Roxie Rodriguez and Melissa Blake also executive producing.
Wilmer Valderrama - JC Olivera / Stringer
Industry: Raising Dion’s Alisha Wainwright has signed with Echo Lake Entertainment for management in all areas. The actress, who also starred in the supernatural drama series Shadowhunters and the Apple TV+ movie Palmer, joins the production and management company responsible for Hulu’s The Great and the Alexander Payne film Nebraska while continuing to be represented by UTA, attorney Rick Genow of Goodman, Genow Schenkman and The Initiative Group.
AMC Networks has partnered with the Red Nation International Film Festival for a new initiative that will promote Native American stories and storytellers throughout the year with new mentoring and professional development initiatives focused on Native American writers and filmmakers, with an emphasis on women creators. AMC is also partnering with the festival on the “Native Women Write” and “Native Indigenous Student Academy for Cinematic Arts” programs and held a screening of the series Dark Winds and the IFC Films feature film Catch The Fair One at the Lumiere Music Hall in Beverly Hills on November 18th, both of which are currently available to stream via AMC+.
Wilmer Valderrama and John Pollak’s Allied Management Group has struck a deal with Monica Gil and Carolina Aymerich’s CRE84U Entertainment for representation for CRE84U’s Latin American writers, directors and showrunners. Creatives such as Chava Cartas, director of the Mexican adaptation of Gossip Girl, and Escobar: El Patron del Mal writer Juan Camillo Ferrand join a client list that includes writer/director Noè Santillàn Lòpez (Mama Para Rato), writers Ricardo Avilès (La Divina Gula), Hector Orbegoso Rivera (Todo Por Lucy), Veronica Angeles Franco (Lo Que Callamos Las Mujeres), Rene Herrera (Emboscada), writer/director/actor Gerald Fillmore (Pequeñas Coincidencias), actor/producer Jaime Aymerich (Los Garcia) and showrunner/writer Mariano Calasso (El Señor de los Cielos). Pollak and Valderrama commented on the partnership addressing the increase in demand authentic Latino storytelling, stating “through the years, we have seen tremendously successful Latin American talent cross-over to the U.S. and we firmly believe our shared clients are the next generation of cross-over stars who will have a significant impact on the content landscape not just here in the U.S. but across the globe.”
CAA has signed the House Of The Dragon co-showrunner and EP Miguel Sapochnik. Known for his Emmy winning direction on Game of Thrones, most notably for the episode “Battle Of The Bastards,” Sapochinik continues to be represented by Warren Dern at Sloane, Offer, Weber and Dern.
Martha Sepúlveda of 9 Story Media Group in Toronto has joined the development team of the London-based independent entertainment company CAKE. She joined the company in October as the new head of creative development under SVP of development Daniel Bays. Previously the senior director of development at 9 Story Media Group, Sepúlveda has also worked with Canadian production companies Sinking Ship Entertainment and Breakthrough Entertainment.
Sesame Workshop has promoted senior director of creative development Kim Díaz to VP of creative development, tasked with overseeing short- and long-form development strategy and exploring new types of content and responsible for finding distributors for its new properties. Díaz’s past projects for the non-profit have included the animated special Elmo Gets a Puppy and the YouTube short The Monster at the End of Your Story with Grover and Elmo. She will now report to creative and production EVP Kay Wilson Stallings and will help support the company’s move from from live-action and puppets into animation.
BBC Studios has appointed two senior executives, including former Netflix exec Edward Barnieh for their Kids & Family subdivision, as part of a major reorganization. Barnieh has been tapped as the new VP of development, while Alexandra McGrail is now head of commercial. The two will be reporting to BBC Studios Kids & Family managing director Cecilia Persson, with Barnieh’s new responsibilities described as “providing creative direction to the division’s development production team to ensure that its slate of projects anticipates the needs of a rapidly shifting market.”