Small Screen: ChimeTV’s Debut, Disney Switches Up Executive Team
Janicza Bravo - David M. Benett
Broadcast: Wendell Pierce (Suits, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan) and Carra Patterson (Turner & Hooch) will star opposite Carrie Preston in CBS’s new drama pilot, Elsbeth. The show follows Elsbeth Tascioni (Preston), an attorney with a successful career in Chicago, as she helps the NYPD solve complicated and elusive cases. Pierce will portray Captain Wagner, a New York police Captain with a commanding demeanor. Patterson will play Officer Kaya Blanke, an NYPD officer with a strong moral code and understated disposition. Robert King, Michelle King, and Liz Glotzer executive produce Elsbeth for CBS Studios.
The BBC will adapt Jordan Tannahill’s popular Canadian novel The Listeners for television. Janicza Bravo, of Zola, Mrs. America, and Them, will direct. The Listeners follows a woman who begins to hear a low humming sound that seemingly nobody else can hear, punctuated by nosebleeds and headaches and eventual insomnia. As the sound begins to unravel her life, she discovers that one of her students can also hear the buzzing, and they strike up a friendship. The series is has not yet been greenlit, but is reported to be in advanced stages of development.
Pornsak Pichetshote - Youtube
Streaming: Independent studio MRC has penned a deal to develop Pornsak Pichetshote’s Eisner Award-winning graphic novel The Good Asian into a series for streaming. The novel tells the story of Edison Hark, a Chinese-American detective, as he hunts down a murderer in 1936 Chinatown. Based in the tradition of Chinatown noir, the novel takes on an aesthetic adopted by the first generation of Chinese people to come of age in America under an immigration ban. Pitchetshote is also known for his graphic novel Infidel, which went on to become a feature with Sugar23. He is also on the writers’ team for HBO Max’s upcoming Green Lantern. No release information has been announced for The Good Asian.
Paramount+’s Star Trek: Discovery will end with its fifth season. The show, which was launched in 2017, will premiere the final season early next year. Discovery was the first Star Trek show to feature a Black female lead, Sonequa Martin-Green, and was praised for its representation of the LGBTQ+ community. The series was part of the initial launch of Paramount+, then called CBS All Access, and is the streamer’s longest-running drama. Of the series’ end, executive producers and co-showrunners Alex Kurtzman and Michelle Paradise said,
“As lifelong fans of Star Trek, it has been an immense honor and privilege to help bring Star Trek: Discovery to the world. The Trek universe means so much to so many — including us — and we couldn’t be prouder of everything Discovery has contributed to its legacy, particularly with representation. If just one person sees themselves, or the possibilities for their future, in a new way because of Discovery, then we think we’d have made Gene Roddenberry very proud. Of course, there would be no Discovery without Sonequa Martin-Green and the extraordinary team of artists, both in front of and behind the camera, who have brought this show to life. . . . We can’t wait for you to see what we’ve been working on for this final season; we appreciate your patience in the meantime and trust us when we say it’ll be worth the wait.”
Nick Mohammed - Michael Buckner
Industry: Intelligence creator Nick Mohammed has signed a deal with BBC Studios. The Emmy-nominated comedian, actor, and writer signed a deal for development and production of original scripted material to be promoted and distributed internationally. Mohammed is also known for his portrayal of Nate in Ted Lasso and will appear in upcoming Maggie Moore(s) alongside John Hamm and Tina Fey. Of the deal, he says,
“Genuinely so flattered to be partnering with BBC Studios and to be given the opportunity to work with some of the U.K.’s most exciting production companies. And just in general feeling very grateful to them for having such faith in my writing. Six ideas in six minutes – I can’t wait to get started!”
As new co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, Dana Walden has created a new executive team. Among those newly appointed is Simran Sethi, who will oversee all Freeform programming. Sethi, whose new title is Executive VP of Programming and Content Strategy for ABC and Freeform, will have much on her plate: Walden says in her announcement that Freeform and ABC Entertainment will be combined into one entity. Walden notes that this “represents Simran’s return to a brand she helped launch.” Sethi will report to Disney TV Group president Craig Erwich.
The US’s first and only English-language AAPI- and woman-owned TV network launched on Spectrum Select in January. ChimeTV features a wide array of general entertainment programming, 70% of which is new to the American audience. Everything from drama to comedy to cooking shows and digital creator content is available on the platform, which bills itself as “he first 24/7 Asian American-focused cable network, delivered in English.” The pioneering network was founded by Faith Bautista, a veteran in the television space who moved to the US from the Philippines as a child. Bautista is also the President and CEO of the National Asian American Coalition (NAAC, neé Mubahay Alliance), CEO of the National Diversity Coalition, and serves on the advisory boards of the FCC and CDFI as well as those of PG&E, Charter Communications, T-Mobile, the City of San Diego, Frontier Communications, First Republic Bank, Royal Business Bank, California Utilities and Diversity Council, and the Filipino American Chambers of Commerce. Of her groundbreaking network, Bautista says,
“As the only female Asian American TV Network owner and CEO, I pledge to work diligently to open the door for the AAPI creative community. We, particularly women, are vastly underrepresented and even inappropriately portrayed in movies, on TV screens, and behind the camera."
In an industry where the Asian American community is woefully under-represented, ChimeTV hopes to bring a voice to those who have historically been left out. The network “celebrates Asian Excellence” on both sides of the camera, spotlighting creators, artists, actors, writers, and producers from the AAPI community. ChimeTV is available on Spectrum Select in 41 states and on Channel 147 in New York City, Los Angeles, and other metropolitan markets.
CAA has signed David Jonsson of Industry and Rye Lane. Jonsson, who is also a Black british Theatre Award-winning stage actor, is most known for his role as Gus on Lena Dunham’s HBO series Industry. Jonsson will also star in the upcoming Alien movie, yet to be named, with Cailee Spaeney. According to the studio, Ridley Scott’s next installment to the franchise will tell the story of “a group of young people on a distant world, who find themselves in a confrontation with the most terrifying life form in the universe.” Jonsson will continue to be represented by United Agents and Public Eye.