Small Screen: ‘L.A. Law’ Cast Three New Series Regulars; Storm Reid Joins ‘The Last Of Us’ Series, 'The Price Of Netflix has Increased In U.S and Canada
Tosk Olagundoye - Jerod Harris / Stringer
Broadcast: L.A. Law, the upcoming drama pilot at ABC has cast Toks Olagundoye, Hari Nef, and Ian Duff as new series regulars. ‘Olagundoye will play Assistant District Attorney Erika Jackson. In keeping with the Assistant District Attorney role played in the original series by Susan Day, Cecil Hoffman, and the late John Spencer, Olagundoye’s Erika Jackson is a force to be reckoned with in the courtroom but is confronted by the role she plays in a carceral system as a deft attorney and as a woman of color. Nef will play Alana Burke, a transgender lawyer who’s so formidable and creative in the courtroom that she makes actual headlines for her outside-the-box thinking. Duff plays junior associate JJ Freeman, an idealistic hard-charger who has no problem speaking truth to power, including to his idol, Jonathan Rollins (Underwood), with whom he has fundamental disagreements about what it means to be a Black man in America in 2022.’
Storm Reid - Albert L. Ortega
Cable: HBO’s The Last of Us series adaptation, starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, has just cast Storm Reid as a guest star, Riley Abel. ‘Based on Naughty Dog’s award-winning video game, The Last of Us takes place 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed by a deadly virus. Joel (Pascal), a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie (Ramsey), a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone to the Fireflies, a cure-searching organization. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse across the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.’ Reid’s Riley is an orphaned girl growing up in post-apocalyptic Boston. In The Last of Us: Left Behind, a DLC to the original video game Riley (originally voiced by Yaani King) accompanies and survives with best friend Ellie before she meets Joel.
Linda Chavez - Amy Sussman
Streaming: Linda Yvette Chavez, known for co-creating and co-showrunning the Netflix dramedy Gentefied alongside Marvin Lemus, has released a statement about the news that the streamer has canceled the series. She said: “In a world where revolutionary art is commodified we have to rethink the way in which we value it. Metrics and algorithms will never measure the true impact of what we did here. … We may never see how deep the work goes or how far it reaches, what seeds we planted for change in the world, but we do the work anyway.” The show centers on three Mexican American cousins (Karrie Martin, J.J. Soria, and Carlos Santos) chasing the American dream in Los Angeles, even while that same dream threatens the things they hold most dear: their neighborhood, their immigrant grandfather (Joaquín Cosio) and the family taco shop. The news comes only two months after the sophomore season premiere.
The U.S and Canada have seen a rise in the price of Netflix. Depending on the plan the giant streamer has hiked its prices by $1 to $2 additional dollars. Its standard and most popular plan has increased $1.50, to $15.49 per month. Next, its premium plan is going up by $2, from $17.99 to $19.99 per month, for U.S. customers while the basic plan is rising up $1, to $9.99 monthly. The streaming giant released a statement saying: “Current members will receive an email notification 30 days before their price changes unless they change their plan,” the message says. We understand people have more entertainment choices than ever and we’re committed to delivering an even better experience for our members. We’re updating our prices so that we can continue to offer a wide variety of quality entertainment options. As always we offer a range of plans so members can pick a price that works for their budget.”
The upcoming second season of Netflix’s Bridgerton has released eight new first look set photos. The sophomore effort will tell the story of the oldest. Here’s the official description: “Driven by his duty to uphold the family name, Anthony’s search for a debutante who meets his impossible standards seems ill-fated until Kate (Simone Ashley) and her younger sister Edwina (Charithra Chandran) Sharma arrive from India. When Anthony begins to court Edwina, Kate discovers the true nature of his intentions — a true love match is not high on his priority list — and decides to do everything in her power to stop the union. But in doing so, Kate and Anthony’s verbal sparring matches only bring them closer together, complicating matters on both sides. Across Grosvenor Square, the Featheringtons must welcome the newest heir to their estate while Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) continues to navigate the ton whilst keeping her deepest secret from the people closest to her.”
Angelica Mcdaniel - David Crotty
Industry: Bryan Curb, Angelica Rosas McDaniel, and Chris Matthews have all been promoted to lead Hearst Media Production Group. Curb will be executive vice president and general manager of educational/informational (E/I) programming. McDaniel will be executive vice president and general manager, entertainment with Matthews given the title of Chief Financial Officer. President Frank Biancuzzo had this to say in a statement: “Bryan, Angelica, and Chris are savvy media executives who will help propel the new group from a creative, strategic, and business standpoint. Together with our existing team of strong managers, producers, and operational staff, we’re poised for great things ahead.” ‘McDaniel formerly served as executive vice president, strategy and creative development for Litton Entertainment. In her new role, she will lead Hearst Media Production Group’s newly formed entertainment unit, with a focus on unscripted original program development and related marketing, syndication, and distribution. She joined Litton in 2020 from CBS Corporation, where she served for nine years, most recently as executive vice president of daytime programs and syndicated program development.’
Nigerian TV pioneer Mo Abudu predicts that this year will be a huge year for Africa. He said: “I’ve been in this industry for 20 years, and it’s only now that we’re seeing this real explosion, a real tipping point, for African content. The reality of the marketplace has changed.” Abudu’s EbonyLife Media has played a very significant role in that change. ‘In 2020, EbonyLife shut down its pan-African television channel, which was available across the continent, to focus on the more lucrative, and growing, the business of production, particularly with international streamers. It was the first African company to sign a multititle deal with Netflix for features — human trafficking drama Oloture, domestic abuse drama Blood Sisters, and the period epic Death and the King’s Horseman, based on the 1975 play by Nigerian Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka — as well as series, including Nigerian legal drama Castle & Castle, about a husband and wife who run a law firm. Other EbonyLife projects in the pipeline include a dystopian sci-fi series, Nigeria 2099, set up as a co-production with AMC; Reclaim, a six-part heist thriller that will kick off a co-production deal between EbonyLife and BBC Studios and which follows a team of art thieves looking to steal back Nigerian works poached by the British Empire 125 years ago; and an action series, developed with Sony Pictures Television, about the historical all-female West African army the Dahomey Warriors — an inspiration for the fictional Dora Milaje of Marvel’s Black Panther.’ According to Kunle Afolayan, director and producer for Citation and Swallow which both went to Netflix, “There’s been a tremendous change. Just three to four years ago, you would have struggled to sell an African film to a big international platform, and financing was always difficult. Usually, I would make one film in two years. Last year, I made two films in a single year.”
