Small Screen: Partnerships, Promotions & A Push For Representation In Voice Acting
Kenneth Lin - Kklin.com
Broadcast: Kenneth Lin, whose work includes House of Cards and Sweetbitter, recently signed a deal with CBS Television Studios. The partnership between the two will see Lin acting as co-executive producer on Star Trek: Discovery’s third season and the upcoming series Clarice, as well as the development of new original series.
Two major animated shows, The Simpsons and Family Guy, announced last week that characters of color would no longer be voiced by white voice actors. These announcements follow those of other animated series, including Netflix’s Big Mouth and Apple’s Central Park, whose showrunners are opting to recast those characters of color who were previously portrayed by white actors as the industry pushes for representative casting in voice acting.
Cable: Leslie Odom Jr. and Nicolette Robinson are among those set to star in Love in the Time of Corona, a limited series that will be remotely shot in the actors’ homes. The show focuses on four couples as they cope with various issues in their relationships while in quarantine, including typical relationship issues such as breaking up and growing apart, as well as issues directly related to the pandemic, namely the imposed physical distancing. The cast features two real-life couples, Odom Jr. and Robinson (who are among the show’s executive producers) as well as Gil Bellows and Rya Kihlstedlt, and is rounded out with Ava Bellows, Tommy Dorfman, Rainey Qualley and L. Scott Caldwell, with Charlie Robinson guest starring. Love in the Time of Corona is slated for an August premier on Freeform.
Twenties, Lena Waithe’s new Showtime series about a queer Black girl slash aspiring screenwriter, has been renewed for a second season, BET has announced. BET president Scott Mills praised the new show, calling Waithe and Susan Fales-Hill’s vision for the production “remarkable,” and affirming that “BET has always been about empowering and elevating black stories.” Christina Elmore, JoJo T. Gibbs and Gabrielle Graham star in the new series, which features a bevy of famous guest stars in its first season, including Seth Green, Kym Whitley, Chuey Martinez, Marsha Thomason, Nazanin Mandi, Sean “Big Sean” Anderson, Jennifer Lewis, Rick Fox, Iman Shumpert and Vanessa Williams.
Charter Communications recently promoted Magesh Srinivasan to the position of Executive Vice President of Network Operations, after having spent the last five years as the Senior Vice President of Network Operations.
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Streaming: Former NFL star Colin Kaepernick is teaming up with Ava DuVernay and Michael Starrbury on a limited series for Netflix based on Kaepernick’s teenage years and how his formative years shaped him in becoming an activist for social justice. Said Kaepernick of the project, Colin in Black & White is focused on presenting a “new perspective to the differing realities that Black people face,” by delving into “the racial conflicts [Kaepernick] faced as an adopted Black man in a white community.” The project is co-executive produced by Kaepernick, DuVernay and Starrbury (who has also written the scripts for the upcoming series) and produced by Netflix in conjunction with DuVernay’s ARRAY production company; there is no official confirmation as of yet as to whether or not DuVernay will be directing the limited series. Colin in Black & White is scheduled to start filming in the fall, pending developments regarding the ongoing pandemic.
WarnerMedia has acquired the exclusive streaming rights to David Makes Man, which was recently renewed for a second season by OWN. Tarell Alvin McCraney’s new hit, which is based around his own life experiences growing up in South Florida, follows the story of a teenage prodigy as he tries to pull him and his mother out of poverty while also dealing with trauma following the death of his closest friend. It will be available to stream on HBO Max starting on July 16.
Mumbai’s Applause Entertainment is going global, having recently announced a partnership with Bend It Film & TV and Locomotive Global for the upcoming series Seeker, which will feature a multi-national team of writers and will be starred by both Indian and international actors. The new series focuses on an Indian guru who eventually rises to fame and struggles with the difficulties that accompany it. Applause Entertainment is a growing production company in India, with original content that is available for streaming on several major platforms, including Amazon, Disney+ Hotstar and Netflix. With Seeker, Applause is making strides towards continued growth in India while also looking to expand its reach around the world.
