Jordan Gonzalez Upped to Series Regular on HBO Max’s “Pretty Little Liars: Summer School” for Second Season

Posted on November 28, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

There are more liars in Jordan Gonzalez’s future…

The Latino actor, who heavily recurred as Ash Romero in Season 1 of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, has been promoted to series regular for the upcoming second season of the HBO Max series, which was recently retitled Pretty Little Liars: Summer School.

Gonzalez’s Ash is a handsome transgender student at Millwood High and romantic interest to Minnie, played by Malia Pyles. The fan-favorite Ash is the first transmasculine character to be introduced in the series.

Created by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Lindsay Calhoon Bring, the new series debuted five years after the original Pretty Little Liars series ended, focusing on new characters in the new fictional town of Millwood, PA and with multiple references to iconic horror movies (think Carrie and the original Halloween).

Per the Season 1 logline: Twenty years ago, a series of tragic events almost ripped the blue-collar town of Millwood apart. Now, in present day, a disparate group of teen girls — a brand-new set of Little Liars — find themselves tormented by an unknown Assailant and made to pay for the secret sin committed by their parents two decades ago…as well as their own.

Bailee Madison also stars as Imogen Adams, Chandler Kinney as Tabby Haworthe, Zaria as Faran Bryant, Maia Reficco as Noa Olivar, Bechtel as Karen/Kelly Beasley, Sharon Leal as Sidney Haworthe, Elena Goode as Marjorie Olivar, Eric Johnson as Sheriff Tom Beasley, Alex Aiono as Shawn Noble and Lea Salonga as Elodie Honrada.

Pretty Little Liars: Summer School is produced by Aguirre-Sacasa’s Muckle Man Productions and Alloy Entertainment in association with Warner Bros. Television. Aguirre-Sacasa and Calhoon Bring executive produce. I. Marlene King (who developed the original Pretty Little Liars), Michael Grassi, and Alloy’s Leslie Morgenstein and Gina Girolamo are also executive producers of the series, which is based on Alloy’s bestselling series of books by Sara Shepard. Jimmy Gibbons serves as a producer for Muckle Man Productions.

Gonzalez also recurred in the second season of The L Word: Generation Q for Showtime.

Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa Signs New Multi-Year Deal with Warner Bros. Television

Posted on April 4, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Roberto Aguirre-Sacasahas landed a major deal…

The 44-year-old Nicaraguan-American playwright, screenwriter, and comic book writer who is currently the Chief Creative Officer of Archie Comics and the key creative force behind Warner Bros. Television’s growing Archie comics-based TV universe, has signed a massive new multi-year overall deal with the studio.

No details are being disclosed but the pact is said to be for five years, and it’s in the high eight figures.

Under the agreement, Aguirre-Sacasa will develop, write, and produce new series through his banner, Muckle Man Productions, while also continuing as executive producer/showrunner on WBTV series Riverdale and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,as well as pilot Katy Keene, co-developed with Michael Grassi.

Shortly after he was named Chief Creative Officer of Archie Comics in 2014, Aguirre-Sacasa teamed with WBTV-based Berlanti Prods. to bring the Archie characters to television. He is the developer/executive producer behind Riverdale, which has been a major hit for the CWand Netflix, and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which quickly established itself as a breakout for Netflix, and the co-developer/executive producer on the Riverdale spinoff pilot Katy Keene, which has been garnering solid early buzz at the CW.

Before becoming Archie Comics COO, Aguirre-Sacasa wrote two of the company’s best-selling horror series: Afterlife With Archie and Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina. He previously worked for Marvel Comics, scripting the adventures of Spider-Man, Nightcrawler, and the Fantastic Four.

Aguirre-Sacasa’s TV series writing-producing credits include Fox’s Glee, HBO’s Looking and Big Love, as well as a stint on WBTV/Berlanti Prods.’ Supergirl.

Aguirre-Sacasa is an accomplished screenwriter and playwright. He penned the feature remakes of Carrie and The Town That Dreaded Sundown, as well as the musical adaptation of American Psycho, which had runs in London and on Broadway.

Aguirre-Sacasa was part of the team that was brought in to overhaul Spider-man: Turn Off the Dark. This summer, Pasadena Playhouse will produce his prep school thriller, Good Boys and True, and he wrote the book to the Broadway-bound Magic Mike the musical, with Brian Yorkey (lyrics) and Tom Kitt(music).

Camila Mendes to Take On “Stephen King’s Carrie: The Musical” on the “Riverdale” Musical Episode

Posted on January 25, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a wicked time for Camila Mendes…

The CW’s Riverdale is taking on Broadway in season 2, with a musical episode set to air this spring, and the 23-year-old Brazilian American will tap into her dark side.

The episode — which will air on April 18 at 8:00 pm ET on The CW — focuses on Riverdale High’s production of Stephen King‘s Carrie: The Musical and will feature 11 songs.

The production is directed by Kevin Keller (Casey Cott) and will feature Cheryl Blossom (Madelaine Petsch) in the lead role of telekinetically-inclined high school outcast Carrie White. Veronica Lodge (Mendes) is set to play mean-girl antagonist Chris, while Archie Andrews (K.J. Apa) and Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart) play high school sweethearts Sue and Tommy.

The announcement was made via Instagram, displays a playfully drawn-on cast list.

While this isn’t the first time the Riverdale kids have sung on screen — Archie sang some original tracks in season 1, Mendes’ Veronica performed with Josie and the Pussycats, and Betty had her own seductive rendition of Tears for Fears‘ “Mad World” in the first half of season 2 – this will be the first time they tackle single Broadway music.

Aguirre-Sacasa to Script Mark Burnett & Roma Downey’s Faust-Based Drama Series

Posted on November 6, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has landed a devilish project…

The Nicaraguan-American playwright, screenwriter and comic book writer is set to pen a drama series based on the classic German legend of Faust.

From husband and wife duo Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, the executive producers of The Bible and the upcoming follow-up A.D., Faust is described as a faith-based medical procedural and a contemporary take on the popular tale about a scholar who sells his soul to the devil for ultimate knowledge, which will explore questions of faith and the supernatural in a grounded, realistic way.

Set in Washington, DC, the Aguirre-Sacasa-penned drama centers on an ambitious surgeon forced to confront a terrible truth: That he may lose everything good in his life—his job, his family, his very soul—when a diabolical stranger from his past arrives, to collect on a bargain they made thirteen years earlier.

Aguirre-Sacasa will executive produce with Burnett and Downey.

The series hails from Downey and Burnett‘s LightWorkers Media, the faith and family division of United Artists Media Group, Burnett and Downey’s joint venture with MGM and Hearst.

Aguierre-Sacasa serves as the Chief Creative Officer of Archie Comics. His film and television credits include Big Love, Glee and the 2013 Carrie remake.

Aguirre-Sacasa to Adapt Marisha Pessi’s “Night Film” for the Big Screen

Posted on September 29, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is ready to take on the night (film)…

The 40-year-old Nicaraguan American playwright, screenwriter and comic book writer has been picked to adapt Marisha Pessl’s noir novel Night Film for Chernin Entertainment and director Rupert Wyatt.

Aguirre-Sacasa, one of the people who rescued the troubled Broadway musical Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark, has been working in every medium in recent years.

His work ranges from writing for Fox’s Glee to scripting the remake of Carrie and The Town That Dreaded Sundown, as well as a screen version of Archie for Warner Bros. and writing the book for the Broadway musical adaptation of the Channing Tatum film Magic Mike.

In Night Film, a journalist investigates the suspected suicide of a young beauty, and discovers she is the daughter of a reclusive horror film helmer and that the girl was murdered and someone is bent on revenge.

Chernin bought the book in April and attached Wyatt, who directed Rise of the Planet of the Apes for the company.

Aguirre-Sacasa to Pen “Afterlife with Archie” Comic

Posted on March 6, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa will be giving Archie, Betty, Veronica and the gang a taste of The Walking Dead.

The 39-year-old television and comic book writer will be writing a new line of Archie Comics. The Glee scribe will be injecting new death into the adventures of Archie, Betty, Veronica and Jughead: flesh eating zombies.

Aguirre-Sacasa will write Afterlife with Archie, which ponders a zombie apocalypse in Riverdale. The comic will run alongside the usual lines of Archie Comics.

Here’s how it happens: After Reggie runs over Jughead’s beloved pet Hotdog, he convinces Sabrina to hatch a spell to bring back the dog back to life. But when Hotdog bites Jughead, he soon craves flesh.

Aguirre-Sacasa, who penned the upcoming Carrie remake starring Chloe Moretz and Julianne Moore, said the new comic line “combines two of my great passions, Archie comics and horror comics.”

The first arc is called Escape from Riverdale. The second arc is called, brace yourself, Betty RIP.” He said the gore will be balanced with “elements that are quintessentially Archie.”

Aguirre-Sacasa’s writing credits include HBO’s Big Love and the comics Dead of Night featuring Man-Thing.

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