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Steven Rumbelow, Film, TV and Theater Writer and Director, Dies at 66
17 minutes ago
Steven Rumbelow, a writer-producer-director of film, television and theater, died of sepsis Feb. 27 in Toronto, his wife, Rachel, confirmed. He was 66.
With a career spanning over four decades, Rumbelow was introduced to the entertainment industry via London’s theater scene in the early ’70s. The England native went on to direct over 150 stage productions. His most notable was an adaptation of Christopher Marlowe’s “Dr. Faustus,” which he debuted in 1971 and continued to tour with around the world until the late ’90s.
Within the realm of television and film, Rumbelow was best known for the paranormal documentary series “Beyond” (2005-2007), which he created, directed, produced and starred in. He also directed and wrote the screenplay for the 2009 sci-fi thriller “Autumn.” Two of his later feature film projects, “The Summoning” and “Over The Edge,” are slated to launch at Cannes Film Festival this spring. Rumbelow’s additional film and television credits »
- Alyssa Sage
Nickelodeon Unveils Four Live-Action Series, Animated Movie at Upfront
26 minutes ago
Nickelodeon unveiled four new live-action series at its upfront presentation in New York on Thursday, along with plans for its first original animated TV movie.
The Viacom cabler touted its plan to roll out more than 650 episodes of new and returning series this year. The performance of Nickelodeon and Viacom’s core cable channels have been under scrutiny amid the broader corporate turmoil at the parent company in recent months.
Two of Nickelodeon’s new series are tied to sports. “Jagger Eaton’s Mega Life,” a 20-episode documentary series that follows the 15-year-old skateboarder of the title as he skates around the world and meets his idols. The show is will begin production this spring. Meanwhile, New England Patriots Super Bowl Xlix Champion and Pro Bowl tight end Rob Gronkowski will host “Crashletes,” a 20-episode viral sports clip series featuring guest personalities from the worlds of sports and entertainment, along with the funniest, »
- Brian Steinberg
Daniel Holloway Joins Variety as Senior TV Reporter
43 minutes ago
Daniel Holloway has joined Variety as a Senior TV Reporter, covering the TV industry. Holloway comes to Variety from the Wrap where he was TV editor.
Holloway will handle breaking news stories on all aspects of the business, from the executive suite to programming and report to Debra Birnbaum, executive editor, TV, and work closely with Variety’s TV team in Los Angeles and New York. He will start on March 14.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome Daniel to Variety,” said Birnbaum. “His deep connections in the industry and solid reporting skills make him a perfect addition to our ever expanding team.”
Before the Wrap, Holloway was Programming and Digital Media Editor at Broadcasting & Cable and also served as Executive Editor of Backstage, where he managed the editorial and art departments and led the brand’s digital relaunch.
His work has been published by the Miami Herald, the Huffington Post, »
- Variety Staff
Ratings: CNN, Fox News Channel Draw Record Audiences for Super Tuesday
2 hours ago
CNN led on the demo side and Fox News Channel in total viewers for coverage of Super Tuesday, with both networks establishing all-time highs for a night of primary and caucus coverage. MSNBC, on the other hand, lagged well behind its rivals and was the only network down from 2008 Super Tuesday.
Overall, according to preliminary Nielsen estimates, roughly 11 million people watched one of three cable news networks during primetime Tuesday, when primary and caucus results from eleven states were revealed — up from 9.3 million on the comparable night eight years ago. About a month ago, Fnc, CNN and MSNBC drew 10.2 million for primetime coverage of the Iowa caucuses.
CNN registered the largest audience in the adults 25-54 news demo than any cable network on record for a primary/caucus night, averaging 1.6 million from 8 to 11. Fox News followed with 1.36 million, and MSNBC lagged far behind with 625,000.
In total viewers, Fox delivered another »
- Rick Kissell
Piper Perabo to Co-Star With Daniel Sunjata in ABC Legal Drama Pilot ‘Notorious’
3 hours ago
“Coyote Ugly” and “Covert Affairs” alum Piper Perabo has been cast in a lead role in ABC’s drama pilot “Notorious,” Variety has learned.
Perabo will co-star alongside Daniel Sunjata (“Graceland”) in the legal drama, which is based on the true-life stories of famed criminal defense attorney Mark Geragos and “Larry King Live” news producer Wendy Walker. The potential series explores the interplay of criminal law and the media.
Perabo will play Julia George, the driven producer of the No. 1 TV news program in the country, who is inspired by Walker. She’s squeaky clean on paper, but fights in the mud when necessary. The character is described as attractive, strong, but also vulnerable.
Previously announced, Sunjata will play Jake Gregorian, a charismatic and sexy defense attorney who manipulates the media to win cases at any cost and needs to be on top in all areas of his life. The character, »
- Elizabeth Wagmeister
HBO Chief Talks HBO Now, International Expansion and Summit Output Extension
3 hours ago
HBO has extended its movie output deal with Lionsgate’s Summit Entertainment through 2022.
HBO chief Richard Plepler announced the deal, which adds four years to the previous pact, on Wednesday during his appearance at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom conference in San Francisco. Plepler also confirmed during his Q&A that HBO will launch stand-alone streaming services in Brazil and Argentina later this year.
Plepler was pressed on the performance of the U.S. streaming service HBO Now, which opened for business last April. The disclosure last month that HBO Now has signed up about 800,000 subscribers was seen as underwhelming by many analysts. Plepler emphasized that HBO has been developing programming targeted to the demo that is most likely to seek out a streaming service — citing its recent content pacts with Jon Stewart, Bill Simmons and nightly newscast plan with Vice — and when those shows come to fruition »
- Cynthia Littleton
‘American Crime’ Alum Penelope Ann Miller Cast in ABC’s Reese Witherspoon-Produced Drama Pilot
3 hours ago
“American Crime” alum Penelope Ann Miller is staying in the ABC fold, joining the cast of the untitled Meaghan Oppenheimer project, Variety has learned.
The soapy drama pilot hails from exec producers Reese Witherspoon and her producing partner Bruna Papandrea through their Pacific Standard banner. The potential series follows a ruthless Dallas divorce attorney, Gemma (yet to be cast), as her life begins to unravel when her emotionally damaged, love-addicted sister resurfaces, triggering self-destructive tendencies and exposing long-hidden family secrets.
Miller will co-star as Elizabeth Hamilton, the wife of a Texas oil billionaire who is seeking revenge after having been left for a woman 20 years younger.
Miller, who also had a long arc on ABC’s “Mistresses,” joins a cast that includes “Grey’s Anatomy” alum T.R. Knight, who will play the nemesis of the lead character, Gemma.
Scribe Oppenheimer is a co-exec producer on the pilot. ABC Studios will produce. »
- Elizabeth Wagmeister
‘Game of Thrones’: HBO Won’t Send Press Any Season 6 Episodes in Advance
4 hours ago
HBO is keeping a tight grip on “Game of Thrones” season six.
In a move that involves a heightened level of secrecy and security, HBO has announced that it will not be releasing any advance episodes of the Emmy-winning series to the press. Hollywood insiders and press alike won’t be getting an early view of the series — either through physical media or digital — until the general public does.
“We’re not sending out press copies this year, anywhere in the world,” HBO programming president Michael Lombardo said to Entertainment Weekly. “There will be no copies for review.”
This could be HBO’s response to the piracy fiasco that the network and show endured last year. The first four episodes of the fifth season appeared on piracy networks a full day before the first episode premiered on HBO. This led to the highest all-time TV piracy record for a show that was already heavily pirated. »
- Jacob Bryant
Prince Royce Joins Cast of Hulu’s ‘East Los High’ (Exclusive)
4 hours ago
Prince Royce has joined the cast of Hulu’s “East Los High” for the series’ fourth season, Variety has learned exclusively.
The multi-platinum recording artist will be seen in a recurring role, playing Vincent, the successful coach of the Jefferson Park Dance crew, which is the Bomb Squad’s main competitor. The sexy newcomer arrives just in time to test the drive and talent of the East Los High dancers, while also tempting the desires of their coach, Ceci (Danielle Vega).
“East Los High” revolves around teens growing up in a working-class neighborhood in East Los Angeles. Gabriel Chavarria, Alicia Sixtos, Vannessa Vasquez and Vega star.
The recurring gig marks an evolving foray into acting for Prince Royce. The musical phenom who has a devoted fan base, with upwards of 5 million Twitter followers, has been nominated for a slew of Latin Grammy Awards and Billboard Music Awards. To date, his »
- Elizabeth Wagmeister
Richard Licata Launches Awards Campaign Agency
4 hours ago
Richard Licata has hung out his shingle as a TV awards strategist with the launch of Licata & Co. — The Awards Agency.
The former NBC and Showtime PR chief aims to offer a range of services to contenders for Emmy Awards, Golden Globe Awards and the various guild honors. Licata is known for the elaborate awards campaigns he spearheaded during his tenure at Showtime and NBC from 2004 to 2014. He previously held top PR posts at HBO and Fox and spearheaded TV for Rogers & Cowan.
Licata has enlisted former Showtime PR exec Stu Zakim to oversee New York-based activities for the company. Graphic designer Shelley Sonnentag, a longtime contributor to Licata’s campaigns, is also working with the company.
“It couldn’t be a more competitive time to be recognized for excellence,” Licata said in unveiling the company.
»
- Cynthia Littleton
AMC Greenlights Anthology Series ‘The Terror’
5 hours ago
AMC has greenlit a new scripted anthology series, “The Terror,” based on the bestselling novel by Dan Simmons, Variety has learned.
Written by David Kajganich (“True Story,” “A Bigger Splash”), the series is set in 1847, when a Royal Naval expedition crew searching for the Northwest Passage is attacked by a mysterious predator that stalks the ships and their crew in a suspenseful and desperate game of survival. AMC has ordered 10 hourlong episodes for premiere in 2017.
The series hails from Scott Free, Emjag Productions and Entertainment 360 in association with AMC Studios.
Kajganich will serve as co-showrunner with Soo Hugh (“The Whispers,” “The Killing”). Executive producers are Ridley Scott and David W. Zucker of Scott Free, Alexandra Milchan and Scott Lambert, both principals at Emjag Productions, and Guymon Casady of Entertainment 360, the content arm of Management 360.
“We’ve been focused on developing this incredible story for television with these great partners for a couple of years, »
- Laura Prudom
Emmy Awards Unveil Rule Changes, New Short-Form Categories For 2016 Race
5 hours ago
In a move to recognize the boom in digital content, the Television Academy has added new categories to the Emmy Awards recognizing short-form series.
The Emmys has expanded the short-form series awards to four categories: comedy or drama; variety; reality/non-fiction; and animation. Series must have a minimum of six episodes with an average length of 15 minutes or less, and be shown on traditional TV or via the Internet. Awards have also been added for short-form actor and actress as well.i
“What was clear to the governors is that there is a rapid acceleration in the volume of terrific creative work being done by our members in the space,” TV Academy chairman and CEO Bruce Rosenblum told Variety. “One of the primary goals for our organization is to award creative excellence. There was no reason why we shouldn’t be awarding creative excellence in short-form digital content as well. »
- Debra Birnbaum
Endemol Shine, All3Media America Among Charter Members of PactUS TV Trade Org
5 hours ago
Endemol Shine North America and All3Media North America are among the charter members of the PactUS trade org representing unscripted TV producers.
Headed by reality TV vet David Lyle, PactUS is a Stateside extension of an org that has been active in the U.K. and Europe for many years. The group aims to promote the interests of the bustling unscripted TV production arena through trade shows and seminars, offering advice on legal and intellectual property protections and through lobbying efforts at the state and local government level.
In the U.K., the Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television was a driving force behind legislation approved in 2003 that granted independent producers broad rights to retain ownership of their shows produced for the U.K.’s largest TV outlets.
“With these outstanding independent production companies forming the nucleus of our organization, and other significant U.S. players poised to join »
- Cynthia Littleton
Christina Hendricks on Moving From ‘Mad Men’ to ‘Hap and Leonard’
5 hours ago
Christina Hendricks has traded in Joan’s pen necklace and updos for a sultry new look as Trudy, the femme fatale at the center of SundanceTV’s new series “Hap and Leonard,” which bows March 2.
Based on the novels by Joe Lansdale, the six-hour event series follows two best friends — Hap Collins (James Purefoy, “The Following”) and Leonard Pine (Michael Kenneth Williams, “The Wire”) — whose relationship gets tested when Hap’s ex-wife, Trudy, reappears in their lives with a tempting get-rich-quick scheme. Hap just can’t say no to her — much to Leonard’s frustration.
Hendricks’ plate has been more than full since “Mad Men” closed its doors — she’s juggling several movies, as well as season two of “Another Period” — but she tells Variety she just couldn’t say no to “Hap and Leonard’s” darkly comic script.
Why did you decide to take this role?
I wasn’t quite ready to do something, »
- Debra Birnbaum
Disney Xd To Launch ‘Big Hero 6’ TV Series In 2017
6 hours ago
No one’s putting “Big Hero 6” into the Disney Vault.
Walt Disney’s TV-animation unit will create a TV series based on the 2014 film about an inflatable robot named Baymax and the young prodigy it befriends. Production has begun for a 2017 debut on Disney Xd cable networks around the world, the company announced Wednesday. Mark McCorkle and Bob Schooley, creators and executive producers of the Disney Channel series “Kim Possible,” are the executive producers.
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to further develop these characters into a world-class animated series — full of fun, action and the kind of endearing storytelling that only Mark, Bob — and Baymax — can deliver,” said Gary Marsh, president and chief creative officer, Disney Channels Worldwide, in a prepared statement.
In decades past, a Disney property might surface only occasionally after its first run. And indeed, some of the company’s older classics turn up »
- Brian Steinberg
Jodie Sweetin Joins ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Season 22
6 hours ago
“Fuller House” star Jodie Sweetin has revealed that she is the first cast member to join “Dancing With the Stars” Season 22. She’ll be partnered with dance pro Keo Motsepe.
Sweetin made the announcement on “Good Morning America” on Wednesday, the same day that Netflix renewed “Fuller House,” her long-awaited “Full House” sequel series, for Season 2. Sweetin plays Stephanie Tanner on the comedic revival.
“I would have loved to have done it in the past but it was a huge scheduling conflict with ‘Fuller House’ at the time so I wasn’t able to do it, but I’m a huge fan of the show,” she said on “Gma.”
Sweetin already had a chance to test the waters by dancing with “DWTS” pro Val Chmerkovskiy on “Fuller House,” an experience that she said “definitely helped set things up” for her to join the competition.
“I’ve always loved to dance. »
- Laura Prudom
Willie Geist to Anchor New Sunday Edition of NBC’s ‘Today’
7 hours ago
Don’t bother Willie Geist on Saturdays. Starting in April, that will be the one day of the week he will have off.
Geist will take on a new role as the anchor of the Sunday version of “Today” on NBC, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. The move appears to be aimed at making the Sunday broadcast dovetail more readily with another NBC News weekend stalwart: “Meet the Press.”
The New York Post was first to report the move. NBC has yet to announce the shift. Geist is expected to continue his other roles during the 9 a.m. broadcast of “Today” during the week and on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
The Post report cited an executive who billed the revamped Sunday broadcast as being more “thoughtful and reflective,” something that would cover politics, popular culture and social trends, and give Geist a chance to present things in his own voice. »
- Brian Steinberg
TV Review: ‘Damien’
7 hours ago
Television antiheroes don’t get much more arch than the Antichrist. Yet “Damien,” A&E’s new drama, chooses a somewhat unorthodox point of entry into that story, one that hews closely to the original 1976 movie about a demon-seed child (wisely ignoring most of what’s transpired in between), and draws liberally from it, even incorporating clips of Gregory Peck and Lee Remick as flashbacks. At the same time, as constructed, the title character and prophesied bringer-of-end-times becomes a rather bland vessel, in a series best consumed without giving it too much thought — a popcorn-style, horror-steeped prelude to the apocalypse.
Developed by Glen Mazzara (whose credits include running “The Walking Dead”) and Ross Fineman, this latest take on the sequel-ized and remade horror staple introduces Damien (Bradley James) as an adult, working as a war photographer with scant memory of his past. Operating abroad, an unsettling incident happens before he »
- Brian Lowry
Weekly Ratings: Oscars, ‘The Bachelor’ Lift ABC to First Victory of the Season
7 hours ago
This year’s Oscarcast may have been down in the ratings, but it teamed with victories on several other nights to lift ABC to its first weekly demo victory of the season — and its most lopsided relative to the competition in 16 years.
In the key adults 18-49 demo, ABC more than doubled runner-up CBS (2.7 to 1.3), winning Monday with “The Bachelor,” Wednesday (tie) with its comedy block, Saturday with NBA basketball and, of course, Sunday with the Oscars. (The net actually won four nights in “live plus-3,” with its “Grey’s Anatomy”-led Thursday lineup pulling ahead in the delayed-viewing metric.)
The demo victory was the first for ABC since last June with the NBA Finals, and the last time the network won an in-season week by a larger amount was in early 2000 with the Super Bowl. It also won with ease in total viewers (9.4 million to 7.8 million for CBS), according to Nielsen. »
- Rick Kissell
‘Fuller House’ Renewed for Season 2 at Netflix
8 hours ago
“Fuller House” has been renewed for a second season at Netflix, Variety has learned. The pickup comes just days after the “Full House” revival series debuted on the streaming giant.
“Fuller House” opened up to polarizing reviews from critics and mixed reaction from fans, but the renewal hardly comes as a surprise. Aside from Netflix’s knack for renewing their original shows for many seasons, “Fuller House,” being in the pop culture zeitgeist, has had an overwhelming amount of social-media success, trending ever since the project was announced.
Netflix, of course, does not release ratings, so besides the heavy Twitter reaction over this past premiere weekend, there is no way to know how many viewers “Fuller House” has drawn since its Feb. 26 launch.
“Fuller House” hails from “Full House” creator Jeff Franklin. The 13-episode series is a modern-day spinoff of the beloved ’80s and ’90s family sitcom, revolving around the widowed D. »
- Elizabeth Wagmeister
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