Small Screen: Paramount Advertising Hit By Layoffs, ‘Bridgerton’ Season 4 Begins Production
tamara tunie - Kristina Bumphrey
Broadcast: CBS's soap opera The Young & The Restless has added Valarie Pettiford (The Family Business) to the cast to play Amy Lewis, who was originally portrayed by Stephanie E. Williams (Boiling Point) in 1983. Pettiford's first appearance will be October 29th. This role marks her return to daytime TV after her run on One Life to Live in the 90s.
CBS's soap opera Beyond The Gates, formerly titled The Gates, has announced three new cast members: Tamara Tunie (As the World Turns), Daphnee Duplaix (One Life to Live), and Karla Mosley (The Bold and the Beautiful). The three will star in the series set in an affluent African American gated community in Maryland. Tunie plays Anita Dupree, a former singer married to a retired senator, Duplaix plays Dr. Nicole Dupree Richardson, the daughter of Anita and a psychiatrist, and Mosley plays Dani Dupree, the wild child of the family. The series will begin production in Atlanta and premiere in early 2025.
The cast of ABC’s Abbott Elementary is receiving significant pay raises ahead of the series's fourth season. Creator and star Quinta Brunson, who also serves as an executive producer, will earn between $350,000 to $400,000 per episode. Tyler James Williams and Sheryl Lee Ralph will each make $250,000 per episode, while Janelle James, Lisa Ann Walter, and Chris Perfetti will receive $200,000 per episode, and William Stanford Davis will see his salary increase to $100,000 per episode. These raises come in recognition of the show’s popularity and awards success, as Abbott Elementary remains one of ABC’s strongest comedy series with high viewership and critical acclaim.
BBC's series Doctor Who has added Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife) to the second season cast as a villain. While details about her character remain undisclosed, Panjabi will star alongside Ncuti Gatwa, Millie Gibson, and Varada Sethu. Doctor Who follows a Time Lord一specifically the Fifteenth Doctor一and their companion as they travel across time and space. The episode is set to air in 2025 on BBC and Disney+.
CBS is developing a gender-swapped reimagining of Zorro led by filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, Rebecca Rodriguez, Howard T. Owens, and Ben Silverman. This new version is written by John Hlavin and Rebecca Rodriguez, and follows a young Latiné woman who finds out her late father was the famous hero Zorro. Following in his footsteps, she takes on the role to protect Austin, Texas. This marks the third attempt to bring the series to life after previous efforts at NBC and the CW.
CBC's anthology drama Plan B has begun production on the third season. The season features a new lead cast that includes Arnold Pinnock (The Porter) and Ennis Esmer (Children Ruin Everything). Joining them is Jaeden Noel (Invasion), Grace Lynn Kung (Fallout), and Carolina Bartczak (X-Men: Apocalypse), who will play Abigail Walker, a TV show host grieving her daughter's suicide. Abigail uses time travel to try to alter the past, but her actions have unforeseen consequences. Production has started in Montreal with a set of six episodes.
CBS has announced development of a multi-camera series titled Zarna in collaboration with Darlene Hunt, Mindy Kaling’s Kaling International, Kevin Hart’s Hartbeat, and Warner Bros. Television. The show, co-written by Zarna Garg and Hunt, follows a proud immigrant raising her American-born children with Indian values. Hunt serves as showrunner, and Garg serves as executive producer alongside Kaling, Jessica Kumai Scott, Howard Klein, and Hart.
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Cable: Syfy's drama series Revival has added Andy McQueen (Outer Banks) to the cast. McQueen will portray series regular Ibrahim Ramin, a CDC scientist working in Wisconsin to uncover why the dead come back to life on “Revival Day.” The series is adapted from Tim Seely and Mike Norton's comic book series of the same name.
HBO has announced that Industry is renewed for a fourth season. The announcement was released before the eighth, and final, episode of season 3 aired on HBO. The current cast includes Ken Leung (Missing), Sagar Radia (Unicorns), Fady Elsayed (Kaos), Myha'la (Bodies Bodies Bodies), and Irfan Shamhji (Shardlake), to name a few. The series hit a viewership all-time-high during its season 3 airing, with almost 1.6 million viewers each episode. Kathleen McCaffrey will join as executive producer in the fourth season.
Adult Swim's animated series Get Jiro! has cast Brian Tee (Chicago Med) as the lead voice actor. The series is based on the graphic novels by Joel Rose and Anthony Bourdain. The story is set in a future version of Los Angeles where sushi master Jiro finds himself in a violent culinary war. The series was created by Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka and is brought to life by Warner Bros Animation.
The Comedy Central animated series Everybody Still Hates Chris has announced its list of guest stars. Of these stars includes Ayo Edebiri (The Bear), Busta Rhymes, Tisha Campbell (Act Your Age), Sam Richardson (The Afterparty), and members of Bell Biv DeVoe. Other notable guest stars include Nicole Byer (Wipeout), Loretta Devine (Queen Bees), Ron Funches (Loot), and Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias (Mr. Iglesias). The series–a continuation of Everybody Hates Chris–follows Chris Rock's experiences growing up in Brooklyn in the 1980s. Terry Crews (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and Tichina Arnold (The Neighborhood) return as the voices of Chris’s parents, and Tim Johnson Jr. voices Young Chris. The series is narrated by Rock and will premiere on September 25th.
Isabella Wei - John Nacion
Streaming: Netflix's romance series Bridgerton has started filming season 4 by adding Isabella Wei (The Crow), Michelle Mao (Metal Lords), and Katie Leung (Arcane) to the cast. The fourth season will focus on Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) and his love interest Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha). Leung will play widowed socialite Lady Araminta Gun, Mao will portray her daughter Rosamund, and Wei will be Rosamund's sister Posy. Production is currently underway at Shepperton Studios.
Paramount+'s comedy series Crutch has added Kecia Lewis (Hell's Kitchen) to the cast. Tracy Morgan leads the series and follows Francois “Crutch” Crutchfield (Morgan) as he takes in his adult son (Jermaine Fowler) and daughter (Adrianna Mitchell). Lewis will portray Antoinette, Crutch's sister-in-law and correctional officer. Crutch is created by Owen Smith and produced by CBS Studios.
Netflix's live-action series Avatar: The Last Airbender has cast Miya Cech (Surfside Girls) as Toph Beifong. Netflix renewed the series for a second and third season, so it held an open casting call to search for an actor to fill Toph's role. Toph is confident and not afraid to say what she wants and is Avatar's earth-bending master. The series explores a universe where the world is split into four elemental nations with an emphasis on martial arts.
Netflix's drama series The Waterfront has added Rafael L. Silva (9-1-1: Lone Star) and Humberly González (Ginny & Georgia) to the cast. In addition, Gerardo Celasco (Next) will be added in a guest star role. Celasco will play Agent Marcus Sanchez. Silva will play a bartender for the Buckley family who is keeping a secret. González will play Jenna Tate, a journalist coming back into town to see her ailing father. The two join Brady Hepner (The Holdovers), Danielle Campbell (The Originals), and Melissa Benoist (Supergirl), to name a few.
Netflix's series Black Mirror has announced the cast for the seventh season. The cast features prominent names like Awkwafina (Crazy Rich Asians), Osy Ikhile (Citadel), Rashida Jones (Sunny), Issa Rae (American Fiction), Tracee Ellis Ross (black-ish), and Paul G. Raymond (Buffering). Returning to the cast from their performance in the sixth season includes Zazie Beetz (Atlanta) and Himesh Patel (Greedy People). To highlight, Ikhile will also reprise his role in a follow-up to the Season 4 episode USS Callister. Season 7 will premiere in 2025 with six episodes.
Netflix has announced that Madison Pettis (He’s All That) and Yvonne Orji (Vacation Friends) are among 11 new cast members joining the rom-com The Wrong Paris. Pettis and Orji will star alongside previously announced leads Miranda Cosgrove (iCarly), Pierson Fode (Storytellers), Naika Toussaint (Under the Bridge), Christin Park (Reginald the Vampire), and Emilija Baranac (Fakes). The story follows Dawn's (Cosgrove) accidental debut on a dating show set in Paris, Texas. Further character and casting details remain undisclosed.
Tamara Smart (Resident Evil) has been cast as Thalia Grace in the second season of Disney+'s Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Season 2, based on Rick Riordan's The Sea of Monsters, is currently in production and set for release in 2025. Thalia Grace, the daughter of Zeus, is described as rebellious to the gods, and loyal to her fellow demigods. Riordan praised Smart for her portrayal, saying she brought an “electric” energy to Thalia. Smart expressed her excitement at playing the role.
“I’m so grateful and excited to be joining the cast of Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” said Smart. “It’s so close to my heart. Lance Reddick and I always spoke about working together again, so it’s that much more special and important to me to play his daughter once more as Thalia, and to keep his memory alive. I feel his presence all around me and strive to make him proud on this exciting journey.”
Indie streamer Dropout has announced the guest-star lineup for the second season of the comedy series Very Important People. The series is hosted by Vic Michaelis and features guests who receive makeovers and invent characters for interviews. Episodes 9-16, debuting after Nov. 7, will feature Nicole Byer (Wipeout), Echo Kellum (Grand Crew), Corin Wells (A Black Lady Sketch Show), and Alex Song-Xia (The Week Of). These stars will join Chris Redd (Resurrected Rides) and Danielle Pinnock (Ghosts) to the season. The series is executive produced by David Kerns, Sam Reich, and Michaelis.
Prime Video's comedy Overcompensating has expanded its cast, adding Julia Shiplett (Happiness for Beginners), Tommy Do (Hacks), Claire Qute (The Detail), and Elias Azimi (Back to One), to name a few. The series was created by Benito Skinner and follows Benny, a closeted ex-football player, and his friendship with Carmen. Shiplett plays Mimi, a free-spirited girl, Do portrays Kevin, a freshman orientation counselor, Qute plays Sloan, a Yates University student, and Azimi plays Chris, a confident freshman frat boy. The series is produced by A24 and Amazon MGM Studios.
Kumail Nanjiani - Kevin Winter
Industry: La Cabane Productions and Thuristar have announced additions to their animated TV special A Lamb's Stew. Iris Onyejiuwa (Years and Years) and newcomer T'Nia Miller have been added to the cast. In addition, Julia Smuts Louw joins the production as story editor, with Joeri Christiaen as director. The 30-minute stop-motion animated special tells the story of a brave young lamb, Billie, who confronts a wolf, only to discover the wolf has no evil intentions.
Hwei Loke has been appointed as the new head of Prime Video Australia and New Zealand. In this role, she will oversee customer growth, marketing, and internal partnerships, to name a few of her responsibilities. Loke will also lead Australian and international Amazon Originals in the region. Loke joined Prime Video in 2020 and brings marketing experience from major companies like The Walt Disney Company, SBS, and Paramount. Her appointment comes as Prime Video continues to prioritize production in Australia, where it has commissioned 30 original series and features since 2019.
Paramount's advertising division has been hit by layoffs as part of a company-wide effort to reduce its U.S. workforce by 15%. The company aims to save $500 million by cutting 90% of its workers by late September. The cuts were issued by John Halley, President of Paramount Advertising, who encouraged staff to work remotely due to the difficult nature of the situation. These layoffs are part of a broader restructuring plan as the company seeks to return to profitable growth and its recent joining with Skydance Media.
Macro Television Studios has appointed Jordanna Guarino as SVP of Scripted Television and Jean Shi as SVP of Unscripted Television. Guarino formerly handled scripted series and streaming movies at Blumhouse Television for companies like Amazon and Hulu. Shi moved from selling, developing and producing unscripted content with Fremantle North America, and used to be Vice President of Development and Programming at Oxygen Media. Macro's president, Jamila Hunter, praised Guarino and Shi's diverse expertise.
“Jordanna’s track record of developing and producing an array of distinctive series for broadcast networks, cable and streamers makes her a perfect fit for our scripted team,” said Hunter. “Similarly, Jean’s unique experience as both a network executive and a producer of content across multiple genres is exactly what we need to expand our footprint in the unscripted space.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed two AI-related bills into law, expanding protections for people regarding the use of their digital likenesses. The first, AB 1836, extends postmortem rights to include digital replicas, ensuring that there must be approval for any re-creation of a deceased person’s voice or likeness, with some exceptions, such as news, satire, and parody. The second, AB 2602, strengthens contractual agreement protections over the use of artists' digital likenesses. Additionally, Newsom signed bills to limit the use of deepfakes in election campaigns, requiring platforms to label or remove deceptive content.
20th Television has signed a deal with Bassett Vance Productions to produce a range of content for both linear networks and streaming platforms. The first project set is the drama Monkey Boy, inspired by Francisco Goldman's novel, with Onyx Collective. If the series moves forward, Ben Smith will serve as showrunner. Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance have partnered with 20th Television for series like 9-1-1 and 9-1-1: Lone Star, and will focus on diverse storytelling. With this deal, the two companies will focus more on projects under Disney Entertainment Television.
Sony Pictures Television and Eleventh Hour Films have signed a deal with Hill 5.14, a Black female-led scripted TV label founded by Tobi Olujinmi. Under this deal, Eleventh Hour will have the option to co-develop and co-produce TV projects from Hill 5.14’s slate. Olujinmi, who launched Hill 5.14 in 2022, has collaborated with prominent writers and talent, including Weruche Opia (I May Destroy You) and Adjoa Andoh (Bridgerton). Olujinmi expressed excitement for the partnership, calling it a “dream team” that will help elevate diverse global storytelling.
Charles Wu (Harrow), Taj Aldeeb (Fall), Kartanya Maynard (Deadloch), and Ezekiel Simat (Beneath the Storm) are a few of the finalists for the prestigious Heath Ledger Scholarship. These rising Australian actors were selected by U.S. and Australian casting agents and will fly to Los Angeles for the announcement event on October 22 at Soho House West Hollywood. The scholarship, created in 2012 in memory of Heath Ledger, offers $10,000 towards living expenses, mentorship, tax and immigration advice, coaching, and more, with a total value of $60,000. Emma Cooper, Chair of Australians in Film, emphasized the scholarship’s role in supporting emerging talent.
“Our aim is to shine a light on the best acting talent coming out of Australia and to uphold Heath’s generous spirit of helping others,” said Cooper. “We’ve been so excited to see the breadth of talent represented in this year’s finalists and are delighted to help support them as they navigate what will undoubtedly be a successful career in Hollywood.”
Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon have established Winter Coat Films. Alongside this, the company has signed a first-look deal with Sony Pictures Television to produce scripted series for streaming and cable. Nanjiani and Gordon will partner with president Dani Melia to create diverse content across genres. Katherine Pope, President of Sony Pictures Television Studios, expressed confidence in their partnership.
“Kumail and Emily are a dream team–artists who bring humanity, humor and authenticity to everything they explore,” said Pope. “We couldn’t be happier to support them and their newly formed production company, which we know will be hugely successful.”
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has called for greater transparency from competitors in the streaming industry. Sarandaos emphasized that Netflix sets a high standard with its public viewership reports. Sarandos defended Netflix's scripted content strategy, addressing fears surrounding AI’s impact on entertainment jobs. He also mentioned the platform’s success with original programming and hinted at Netflix’s potential growth in live sports and events. Sarandos also discussed Netflix’s evolution, saying the company’s goal remains to “put the right show in front of the right people at the right time.”
“…[W]ith the creative community, what they’ve found with us is that we can help them reach an audience bigger, better and more global than anyone ever has in media,” said Sarandos. “So most people who want to do the best work of their life, hopefully they want to do it with us.”
Writers Guild of America East (WGAE) President Lisa Takeuchi Cullen outlined the guild's current priorities in a memo marking the first anniversary of the 148-day writers' strike. The WGAE's top goals include pushing for East Coast-based writers’ rooms by highlighting tax credits in certain states, fighting against unpaid development work, and supporting lower-level and marginalized writers. Cullen also addressed ongoing layoffs in the media, efforts to protect journalists, and the creation of an AI Task Force to monitor AI's impact on the industry. Additionally, the WGAE is focusing on strategic organizing in nonfiction TV and podcast sectors, improving its office space and technology, and ensuring members benefit from the new contract's gains. Cullen emphasized the importance of member involvement in shaping the guild’s future.
