Dave Chappelle’s Netflix stand-up special Sticks & Stones won for directing, writing of a variety special as well as best variety special pre-recorded at Saturday’s Creative Arts Emmys.
Chappelle beat fellow nominees Tiffany Haddish, John Mulaney, Jerry Seinfeld, and Hannah Gadsby in the variety special (pre-recorded) category, as well as Patton Oswalt and Seth Meyers in the writing category. The comedian headed into Emmys season with six nominations for Dave Chappelle: Sticks & Stones, and two for Dave Chappelle: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize For American Humor.
Earlier this year, his latest Netflix stand-up special won best comedy album award at the 2020 Grammys. His latest effort covers everything from gun control to the opioid crisis, though much of the focus is on Chappelle’s views of “cancel culture.” He examines what he describes as “celebrity hunting season” through the lens of the accusations and controversies surrounding Michael Jackson, R. Kelly and Kevin Hart.
“This is the worst time ever to be a celebrity,” Chappelle says in the special. “You’re gonna be finished. Everyone’s doomed. Michael Jackson has been dead for 10 years, and this n— has two new cases.”
Winners were announced as part of the five-night virtual Creative Arts Emmys event, hosted by Byer, which started on Monday and culminated in Saturday’s two-hour broadcast ceremony on FXX. The Primetime Emmys will follow on Sunday, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel from an audience-less Staples Center.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Eddie Murphy has won his first-ever Emmy award for his comeback on Saturday Night Live last year.
Murphy returned to host Saturday Night Live last December, 35 years after he last appeared on the show. Murphy brought back some of his most beloved SNL characters for his appearance, including Mr. Robinson, Gumby, Buckwheat, and Velvet Jones.
On Saturday night Murphy won the Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series at the Creative Arts Emmy’s ceremony for his long-awaited comeback.
Murphy, who received an Emmy nomination for his first appearance on SNL almost 40 years ago, said the win was “very special” in his acceptance speech.
Murphy said: “Thank you to everybody at the Emmys. Thank you so much for giving me an Emmy, I don’t have an Emmy. This is 40 years since I started Saturday Night Live. This is my first Emmy, so thank you so much.
“I want to thank Lorne Michaels for putting this whole thing together and making this happen. And I want to thank the cast and the writers and the crew at SNL. This was a very very special thing for me to come back and have the show turn out the way it did. I’m still floating from it. And thank you to everybody for giving me an Emmy.”
As reported on Entertainment Weekly, Murphy later added: “It’s so special because it was 36 years to the day since I was on the show. For it to turn out the way it turned out and this on top of it…it’s just really really special.”
Murphy also said he was still planning to return to stand-up soon, after a long hiatus. “We were planning before the pandemic hit on doing standup, getting some stuff together…As soon as it’s clear to go back out there, that’s the plan.”
Kevin Hart is coming back for more action at Quibi.
The short-form content platform has renewed Hart’s comedy-action series “Die Hart” for a second season, which will be called “Die Harter.”
In the first season, which Quibi bills as its most-watched show of the summer, Hart played a version of himself trying to step out of the role of “comedic sidekick” by going to the world’s greatest action star school. While there, the school’s lunatic director (John Travolta) and tough-minded rival student (Nathalie Emmanuel) pushed him to his limits as he was thrown into the deep end.
Hart will executive produce the second season once again alongside his long-time business partner Jeff Clanagan for LOL Studios, which produces the show.
“LOL Studios is excited to produce season 2 of ‘Die Hart; and continue our work to bring premium comedic content and new IP to market” said Clanagan, president of Laugh Out Loud.
Tripper Clancy, Candice Wilson, Bryan Smiley and Thai Randolph also serves as exec producers alongside Hart and Clanagan.
News of the renewal comes just over a month after Hart and Clanagan spoke with Variety about the future of LOL Studios and planned expansion in Africa.
“What we saw from Kevin is there’s a huge global market for this content,” Clanagan said.
The duo also spoke about coping with the coronavirus production shutdown, which forced the LOL team to become more creative, Hart said.
“You saw people really get to a place where they said, ‘Although we’re not in a position to physically produce on set, what can we do virtually?’” he said. “We challenged the team to still produce and come up with things, and be aggressive in this time…. It never was the time to sit back and be engulfed in our own misery. It was about constant trying, that’s what literally has gotten us through this pandemic.”
Source: Variety
Today, Laugh Out Loud, the comedy brand and multi-platform entertainment company founded by Kevin Hart, announced the season 2 premiere of DL Hughley Uncut, available on the LOL Channel (462) on Pluto TV. Starting today, the series will expand from a weekly show to twice a week, giving viewers twice the amount of dynamic conversation, thoughtful insight, and comedic banter around the current events and breaking moments that are shaping the culture.
Launched in May 2020, season one of DL Hughley Uncut debuted as part of Laugh Out Loud’s “Comedy in Color” programming block, featuring special guest appearances from Kevin Hart, Jamie Foxx, Killer Mike, Teddy Riley, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, and more. The series became an instant success for the LOL channel, helping to make Laugh Out Loud one of the most-watched comedy channels on Pluto TV.
“Jasmine and I are excited to bring another hilarious season of DL Hughley Uncut to fans – covering the topics everyone wants to hear about and speaking the truth with even fresher, funnier perspectives and a hot new slate of guests,” says DL. “We look forward to being a part of Laugh Out Loud’s “Comedy in Color” programming on Pluto TV for another great season.”
This season, DL and his co-host Jasmine Sanders will welcome even more luminaries and thought leaders from the worlds of music, comedy, film, and politics to the show starting this week with Trymaine Lee and Dr. Glaude.
SHOWTIME has released the trailer and poster art for the upcoming docu-series THE COMEDY STORE, which chronicles the evolution of comedy from within the walls of the legendary L.A. club. Directed and executive produced by Mike Binder (The Upside of Anger, Reign Over Me), who started at the Store as a doorman before rising to main stage performer, and executive produced by Oscar® nominee and Emmy winner Mike Tollin (The Last Dance), the five-part series premieres on Sunday, October 4 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they will release Florian Zeller’s THE FATHER in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on December 18, 2020, followed by most major markets on Christmas Day. The film was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics ahead of its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and can next be seen at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival.
Written by Zeller and Christopher Hampton, THE FATHER stars Academy Award winners Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman, a father-daughter duo—one mischievous, the other caring—who battle the universal prophecy of loss that come with age. The family drama also stars Mark Gatiss, Rufus Sewell, Imogen Poots and Olivia Williams. Hopkins is receiving this year’s TIFF Tribute Actor Award on Tuesday, September 15, 2020.
Watch the trailer below:
Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson is adding to his already deep roster of shows at Starz, with the premium cabler developing two new shows on which Jackson will serve as executive producer under his rich Starz overall deal. Both shows will be produced by Jackson’s G-Unit Film & Television.
The first series is an untitled drama inspired by the life of sports agent and attorney Nicole Lynn. The series follows the rise of a determined young, African-American woman as she breaks through and climbs to the top of the highly competitive and male dominated world of sports agents. It is inspired by events that shaped Lynn on her path to becoming the first Black woman to represent a top 3 NFL draft pick, a fierce advocate for her legal clients, and a breath of fresh air in a male-dominated industry.
Tash Grey, who has also worked as a writer and co-executive producer on the “Power” prequel “Raising Kanan,” will serve as writer and executive producer on the project. Lynn will also executive produce along with Jackson.
The second project is titled “Moment in Time: The Massacre.” It is described as a seasonal anthology series that will explore the true stories in which iconic hip hop moments collided with the sensational and sometimes criminal events behind-the-scenes. Season 1 reveals how tension between 50 Cent and The Game led to an all-out street war, pitting G-Unit against music impresario Jimmy Henchman, resulting in a murder-for-hire plot and Henchman serving a life sentence in prison.
Abdul Williams will write and executive produce “Moment in Time.” Williams’ previous credits include “The New Edition Story” and “The Bobby Brown Story” at BET.
Anil Kurian will, in part, develop both projects on behalf of G-Unit Film & Television. Starz senior vice president of original programming Kathryn Tyus-Adair will oversee both projects on behalf of the network.
Jackson’s best-known series as a producer to date is the Starz series “Power,” which delivered record ratings for the network during its six-season run. Four “Power” spinoffs have been ordered at the network, with the first — “Power Book II: Ghost” — having launched on Sept. 6. Jackson executive produces all of the spinoffs as well. He also executive produces the ABC drama “For Life,” which was recently renewed for a second season, and is currently developing the drama “Twenty Four Seven” at CBS All Access with Tip “T.I.” Harris attached to star.
Jackson is repped by APA and attorneys Eric Feig and Stephen Savva. Grey is repped by Metamorphic Entertainment and Kaplan-Stahler. Williams is repped by ICM, Fourth Wall Management, and B2L Entertainment Law. Lynn was represented in the deal by Elsa Ramo at Ramo Law.
Source: Variety
After a star-making turn in HBO’s hit series Lovecraft Country, Jonathan Majors is now ready to make his mark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a big way. Majors has been tapped for one of the lead roles in the next Ant-Man movie opposite Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lily. The studio had no comment, but sources close to the project say he is likely to play the super-villain Kang the Conqueror.
Sources add that like with so many new characters in the MCU, there could be a twist with how the character is featured in future films, but as of now he is likely to be one of the main villains in the next installment in the franchise.
Peyton Reed, who directed the first films, returns to helm the latest installment, with Jeff Loveness penning the script. Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige will produce.
Although its possible he could be used differently in the movie, in the comics, Kang is a time-traveling entity who had battles with everyone from Thor to Spider-Man to the entire Avengers team.
The summer of 2020 has been good to Majors both on the film and TV front. He began starring in Spike Lee’s epic war drama Da 5 Bloods, where he played one of the sons of the Army unit that ventures back to Vietnam in their search for their gold fortune and fallen squad leader. He followed that up with Lovecraft Country, created by Misha Greene and produced by Jordan Peele and J.J. Abrams. The series premiered in August and broke digital records for the network.
Prior to these projects, Majors received praise for his 2019 film The Last Black Man In San Francisco, which premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. The movie marked Majors’ first leading role, for which he was nominated for a Gotham Award for Breakthrough Actor and a Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male.
Majors is starring in Netflix’s The Harder They Fall, where he plays outlaw Nat Love and is currently in production. He was also tapped to star in Black Label media’s Devotion.
Source: Deadline
Universal’s Jennifer Lopez romantic comedy Marry Me will be released on Valentine’s Day weekend, Friday, February 12, 2021. The feature takes the place of the untitled Universal romantic comedy on the release schedule.
Marry Me squares off against Disney/Marvel’s Eternals and Paramount and Lee Daniels’ Billie Holiday movie on its new date.
As we first reported, the Kat Coiro-directed Marry Me was originally set up at Universal, then went to STX, and then back to Universal.
The pic features originals songs by Lopez and Maluma. Lopez stars as musical superstar Kat Valdez and Owen Wilson as Charlie Gilbert, a math teacher—total strangers who agree to marry and then get to know each other. John Bradley also stars.
John Rogers (TNT’s The Librarians) and Tami Sagher (NBC’s 30 Rock) and Harper Dill (Fox’s The Mick) wrote the screenplay based on the graphic novel by Bobby Crosby. Pic is produced by Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas (Hustlers, Maid in Manhattan), Lopez, Benny Medina (Hustlers, NBC’s The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) and Rogers. The film’s executive producers are Alex Brown, Willie Mercer, Pamela Thur and J.B. Roberts.
Source: Deadline
Issa Rae’s ColorCreative is set to produce a dramedy in development at Quibi from writer Brittani Nichols.
Titled “Toothbrush,” the series follows Rae. A queer woman living on the east side of Los Angeles, she struggles to find balance and boundaries with Emma, her ex-girlfriend turned best friend whose apartment she finds herself staying over more often than not. As the two of them pursue their individual professional and romantic aspirations, the codependent nature of their relationship forces them to confront their feelings for each other, begging the question, “Can two exes ever really just be friends?”
ColorCreative’s Deniese Davis will executive produce along with Ravi Nandan of A24. A24 will serve as the studio behind the series.
Nichols most recently worked as a writer and performer on the Emmy-nominated HBO comedy series “A Black Lady Sketch Show.” Her other writing credits include “Take My Wife,” “Drop the Mic,” and the feature “Suicide Kale,” which she also starred in and produced. As an actor, her credits include “Transparent” and “Take My Wife.”
She is repped by First Friday Entertainment and attorneys Lev Ginsburg and Grace Kallis.
ColorCreative was founded in 2014 by Rae and Davis to create an industry pipeline for women and minority writers. The company currently has a multi-picture production deal with Columbia Pictures to develop projects from people of color from diverse backgrounds.
Source: Variety