Bobby Cannavale Signs with Creative Artists Agency (CAA)

Bobby Cannavale is making management moves…

The 52-year-old half-Cuban American actor has signed with Creative Artists Agency (CAA).

Bobby CannavaleCannavale has moved from WME, after just opening alongside Ana De Armas at the Venice Film Festival in the Andrew Dominik-directed Blonde

He next will star in Gracie Otto’s Seriously Red, and opposite Robert De Niro in the Tony Goldwyn-directed Inappropriate Behavior.

Cannavale has had memorable turns in projects from Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman to Boardwalk Empire, Motherless Brooklyn, I, Tonya, Ant-Man, The Station Agent and many others.

In television, Cannavale will next star in Ryan Murphy’s limited series The Watcher with Naomi Watts. He was recently seen in Hulu’s limited series Nine Perfect Strangers, alongside Nicole Kidman and Melissa McCarthy. His other TV credits include Homecoming, Angie Tribeca, Mr. Robot, Master of None, Nurse Jackie and Vinyl.

On the stage, Cannavale is a two-time Tony Award-nominee for Mauritius and The Mother F*cher With The Hat. A member of the LAByrinth Theater Company, the New Jersey-born Cannavale last appeared on stage in the 2020 production of Medea at The Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Gabriel Leone to Star in Michael Mann’s New Film “Ferrari”

Gabriel Leone is revvin’ his engines…

The 28-year-old Brazilian actor  has been set by director Michael Mann to play a key role in Ferrari, which is being prepared for an August 1 production start in Italy.

Gabriel LeoneLeone has just signed with CAA and joins a cast that includes Adam Driver in the title role, alongside Penélope Cruz and Shailene Woodley as the women in his life.

The film is set during the summer of 1957, as the former race car driver-turned-magnate Enzo Ferrari staves off bankruptcy as he looks for salvation with a victory at the Mille Miglia, a treacherous 1,000-mile race in which pre-eminent carmakers battle for bragging rights, with their drivers hurtling around twists and turns at 180 mph. In the backdrop, Ferrari battles with his wife and business partner, Laura, as their marriage disintegrates over the mourning of their son and the acknowledgment of another potential heir.

Leone is playing Alfonso De Portago, who was one of Ferrari’s driving stars and the epitome of the daredevil drivers of that era. He was a handsome and wealthy Spanish aristocrat who captured Europe’s imagination and was a favorite to win the Mille Miglia and his results changed the race forever, but not in the way intended. STX Entertainment has worldwide rights on the film.

Leone became a star in Brazil and gained international attention as the lead in Dom, the first original Amazon series produced in Brazil. The drama became the most-watched non-English-language series worldwide for Amazon. Leone recently completed filming its second season.

Mann directs Ferrari from a script by Troy Kennedy Martin and Mann-based on Brock Yates’ book Enzo Ferrari – The Man and the Machine.

Leone separately starred as the title character in Eduardo e Mônica opposite Alice Braga, and Alemão 2, the sequel to the successful 2014 action movie.

Leone began his career in a theater company performing classic repertoire, making his stage debut in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.

He also starred in numerous musicals including Wicked and Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, for which he was nominated for the principal theater and musical awards in Brazil.

 

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Grupo Firme Signs with Creative Artists Agency (CAA)

Grupo Firme is hoping to take Regional Mexican music to the global stage…

The Mexican band has signed with Creative Artists Agency (CAA) for worldwide representation in all areas.

Grupo FirmeThe L.A.-based agency also signed the regional Mexican group’s indie label, Music VIP.

News of the signing comes on the heels of Grupo Firme’s stadium tour across the U.S. with stops at L.A.’s Sofi Stadium, Metlife Stadium in New York, Atlanta’s Mercedes Benz Stadium and a final stop at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas for Mexican Independence Day weekend in September.

Grupo Firme — founded in Tijuana, Mexico, in 2013 — straddles the genres of banda and norteño and comprises brothers Eduin and Jhonny Caz, Abraham Hernández, Joaquín Ruiz, Christian Gutiérrez, José Rubio and Dylan Camacho.

Initially known for performing corridos, the group was catapulted into the mainstream in 2017 after signing a label and management deal with Music VIP.

Since then, the band — who won their first Latin Grammy last year with their album Nos Divertimos Logrando Lo Imposible — has achieved unprecedented success with many firsts under their belt, including making history by becoming the first banda ensemble to ever play at Coachella.

Additionally, on Billboard’s 2021 year-end Boxscore Charts, Grupo Firme landed at No. 23 in the Top 40 Tours chart after grossing $18 million from 19 shows thanks to their historic run at the Crypto.com Arena last year, when they helped relaunch the venue (then Staples Center) by playing its first concert in 513 days.

It also marked the beginning of the supergroup’s historic run at the arena with their first (of seven) full-capacity, sold-out show — making history as the Latin act to perform the most shows in a single calendar year at Staples (the only other artist who has done more is Adele, with eight in one calendar year).

Grupo Firme is managed by Isael Gutiérrez, founder of Music VIP. Management will continue to broker certain tour deals directly on their own.

Edwin Castro Signs with Creative Artists Agency (CAA)

Edwin Castro has new representation…

The 30-year-old Mexican American Twitch streamer has signed with Creative Artists Agency (CAA) for representation in all areas.

Edwin CastroCastro is best known for his soccer-themed content including FIFA.

He averages 30,000 concurrent live viewers on the Amazon-owned platform and has over 3.5 million followers.

Castro is also active on YouTube and social media channels.

A sports enthusiast, Castro attends major sporting events annually such as WWE, F1, NFL, NBA and MLB.

Among his work with brands, Castro has collaborated with 7-Eleven, Gillette, Electronic Arts and Turtle Beach. Earlier this year, he was seen in a McDonald’s Super Bowl commercial.

Eugenio Derbez & His 3Pas Studios Sign with Creative Artists Agency (CAA)

Eugenio Derbez is getting creative

The 60-year-old Mexican actor, comedian and filmmaker and his production company 3Pas Studios have signed with Creative Artists Agency (CAA) in all areas.

Eugenio DerbezDerbez has been on a hot streak following the announcement of multiple deals: a first-look deal with TelevisaUnivision’s streamer Vix, a development deal with Encantos for kids content, and a renewal of a first-look film deal at Lionsgate, to name a few.

The 3Pas Studios-produced bilingual series Acapulco for Apple TV+ was recently renewed for a second season.

Derbez is an award-winning actor, writer, director, producer, and philanthropist, who, along with former Pantelion Films executive and producer Ben Odell, built 3Pas Studios, a bilingual production company producing English and Spanish language content for global audiences.

3Pas has offices in Los Angeles, Miami, and Mexico City, where they also have its production services arm, Visceral. Composed of 22 employees, the studio services development and production across English and Spanish language movies, scripted and unscripted content, as well as entertainment for kids and families.

Next, 3Pas will move into podcasting, as well as new, non-media-related businesses.

In 2013, Derbez wrote, produced, starred in, and directed Instructions Not Included, which became the highest-grossing Spanish-language film ever, grossing more than $100 million on a $5 million budget.

Most recently, he starred in the Oscar-winning film Coda, which won Best Picture at the 94th Academy Awards, in addition to Best Ensemble award at the Screen Actors Guild Awards and three British Academy Film Awards, including Best Screenplay.

In addition to starring in and producing his own comedy shows throughout the past 25 years, Derbez has also starred in the 3Pas Studios’ hit movies How To Be A Latin Lover and Overboard as well as Miracles From Heaven, and Dora And The Lost City of Gold.

Up next, he will appear in The Valet, which 3Pas Studios developed and produced along with Lionsgate to premiere via Hulu on May 20th.

3Pas Studios’ other recent projects include Amazon’s De Viaje Con Los Derbez, and the Spanish-language version of LOL: Last One Laughing.

Carlota Pereda Signs with Creative Artists Agency (CAA)

Carlota Pereda has new representation…

The Latina writer-director, whose debut feature Piggy (Cerdita) recently made its world premiere in the Midnight Section of the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, has signed with Creative Artists Agency (CAA).

Carlota PeredaIn Pereda’s acclaimed Spanish-language horror film, an overweight teen is bullied by a clique of cool girls while holidaying in her village—with the long walk home that follows changing the rest of her life.

The project was selected in 2020 at script stage for the Cannes Film Festival’s Focus Co-Production Initiative.

It expands on Pereda’s breakthrough 2018 short of the same name, which has won 90 awards, including the Spanish Academy’s Goya Award for Best Short Film in 2019, and the 2020 Slamdance AGBO Fellowship.

Pereda has also worked extensively in television—most notably directing episodes of the Spanish-language series Paco’s Men for Money Heist creator Álex Pina.

Rodrigo Cortés Directing the Warsaw Ghetto-Set Romantic Musical Drama “Love Gets a Room”

Rodrigo Cortés is preparing for some love and music…

The 48-year-old Spanish film director, producer, screenwriter, editor and writer will helm Love Gets a Room, a Warsaw Ghetto-set romantic musical drama.

Rodrigo Cortés

The film will star Clara Rugaard and Ferdia Walsh-Peelo.

Shot under the radar in order to magnify impact nearer to release when theaters return, said its producer Adrián Guerra, Love Gets a Room is produced and financed by Guerra’s Nostromo Pictures, with Lionsgate International handling international rights and CAA representing U.S. rights.

Top Spanish independent A Contracorriente Films will release the film in Spain theatrically at the end of the year.

Written by German bestseller writer David Safier and Cortés, the film captures a group of actors as they perform in the heart of the Warsaw Ghetto, in a life or death context on a run-down stage, Love Gets a Room, a real-life musical comedy that was written by playwright Jerzy Jurandot, a Polish Jew, and performed by a group of actors in the winter of 1942 at the Femina Theater in Warsaw.

“Safier discovered the existence of the original work and wanted to honor that beautiful achievement made by a group of actors now forgotten in the middle of the blackness,” Guerra told Variety.

The text of the play that is represented in the film is the original, as it was performed in 1942. The lyrics of the songs have survived, with the music for the film being composed in the tradition of the musical theater of that time. All the songs have been shot live and the sound of the original takes has been used, without playback.

Told in real time —as Cortés’ acclaimed BuriedLove Gets a Room “engulfs the audience in an emotional adventure to discover a side of history never before told on film,” Guerra said.

This pictures “all kinds of artists (actors, musicians, writers) still performing, under the most unlikable circumstances, only to save their sanity, to stoke the art they deeply love, to engage in a civilizing, humanity-affirming exchange,” he added.

Love Gets a Room captures Cortés on a roll, after the publication of his second novel, The Extraordinary Years, written in the great Spanish tradition of the absurd which became one of the unexpected literary hits this summer in Spain.

Dr. Miguel A. Cardona Helps CAA Launch K-12 Mentoring Program

Dr. Miguel A. Cardona is helping get U.S. students ready (set) for the new school year…

Creative Artists Agency (CAA) hosted an event this week at Fairfax High School in Los Angeles to launch the Ready Set mentoring program, with support from the 46-year-old Puerto Rican U.S. Secretary of Education, educator and member of the U.S. Cabinet.

Dr. Miguel A. Cardona

Ready Set, which highlights the nationwide need for tutors, is an online recruitment campaign that addresses the loss of learning and relational mentors among K-12 public school students in the U.S., particularly those who live in historically marginalized communities.

The campaign will run through September 2021 and build a strong volunteer pipeline for the academic year ahead.

“Ready Set was created to make it as simple as possible for tutors and mentors to volunteer to help kids,” CAA co-chairman and Ready Set advisory board member Richard Lovett told Variety. “In our 25 years of supporting public schools, the need has never been greater.”

Cardona and other leaders highlighted the importance of re-engaging students this summer, building America’s student support network and creating excitement around returning to in-person learning this fall.

“With the help of Ready Set mentors, we will help students recover this year,” Cardona said while speaking at the event. “To be a part of this important network, I’m asking folks to consider tutoring, mentoring, or serving with Ready Set. By volunteering, you can support students accelerate their learning to build strong relationships with caring adults.”

Alicia Sanz Signs with Range Media Partners for Talent Management

Alicia Sanz is expanding her range

The 33-year-old Spanish actress has signed with Range Media Partners for talent management.

Alicia Sanz

The star of the Amazon Prime series El Cid will continue to be repped by CAA, You Rock Talent; and Brecheen, Feldman, Breimer, Silver & Thompson.

Sanz is renowned for her turn as Paloma Iglesias in the second season of El Rey’s From Dusk Till Dawn from Robert Rodriguez.

Sanz is currently shooting Gideon Raff’s bilingual thriller series Now and Then for Apple TV+ opposite Rosie Perez, Maribel Verdú, and Marina de Tavira. Set in Miami with an all-Hispanic cast, the series explores the differences between youthful aspirations and the reality of adulthood, when the lives of a group of college best friends are forever changed after a celebratory weekend ends up with one of them dead. Now, 20 years later, the remaining five are reluctantly reunited by a threat that puts their seemingly perfect worlds at risk. Sanz will play Young Sofia, a younger version of Sofia (played by Maribel Verdú), a strong self-made lawyer whose life took an unexpected turn 20 years ago and is now hiding too many secrets.

Sanz starred opposite William Levy in the feature film En Brazos de un Asesino and in the Bradley Parker directed feature, The Devil Below. Other credits include the Netflix feature #RealityhighFox’s Shots Fired, James Cox’ Billionaire Boys Club and the independent thriller, Better Criminal.

Originally from Ceuta, Spain, Sanz landed her first leading role at the age of eight. She went on to make her TV debut as Lucía Elízondo Cortés on Antena3 Network’s hit drama Gavilanes, and subsequently starred in other popular Spanish series’ including Bandolera, Amar Es Para Siempre and Cuentame.

Mariah Carey Leaves Roc Nation for Management Representation with Range Media Partners

Mariah Carey is expanding her range

The 52-year-old half-Venezuelan Grammy-winning singer/songwriter has departed Roc Nation and partnered with Range Media Partners for management.

Mariah Carey

Carey will work with Melissa Ruderman, her former rep at Roc Nation who joined Range Media in January.

Carey’s move to Range Media follows a report in U.K. tabloid The Sun that the singer and Roc Nation founder Jay-Z fell out following an “explosive meeting.”

Carey, who signed with Roc Nation in November 2017, subsequently set out to quell the rumor by tweeting, “The only ‘explosive’ situation I’d ever ‘get into’ with Hov is a creative tangent, such as our #1 song ‘Heartbreaker.’”

Ruderman and Carey’s relationship goes back over 15 years, when Ruderman worked for manager Benny Medina and handled day-to-day management for Carey during the release cycle for her 2005 album The Emancipation of Mimi.

During her five-year stint at Roc Nation, Ruderman helped execute several major deals for Carey, including two consecutive residencies at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, a TV deal with Apple and a publishing contract that led to the publication of the New York Times-bestselling memoir The Meaning of Mariah Carey.

Carey has had a long list of managers over the years. Before signing with Roc Nation, she was with Stella Bulochnikov and, before that, Kevin Liles, with whom she signed in 2014 following the dissolution of her management relationship with longtime collaborator Jermaine Dupri. At various points earlier in her career, Carey was managed by ex-husband Tommy MottolaRandy Jackson and Red Light Management.

Range Media Partners was launched in Sept. 2020 by former Entertainment One chief strategy officer Peter Micelli and a coalition of former CAA, WME and UTA agents.