Ariana DeBose Wins Critics Choice Awards Acting Prize for “West Side Story”

Posted on March 14, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Ariana DeBose is the critics’ choice…

The 27th annual Critics Choice Awards honored the best in movies and television during a Sunday night broadcast on The CW and TBS, with the 31-year-old half-Puerto Rican actress/singer/dancer among the honorees.

DeBose, who’d won the first BAFTAs trophy of her career one night earlier, was named Best Supporting Actress for her inspired work in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story. It’s the latest in a long list of acting honors for Debose for her portrayal of the iconic Anita in the latest film adaptation of the Broadway musical, including a Golden Globe and historic SAG Award.

This year’s nominations in film saw Belfast and West Side Story lead with 11 each, followed by Dune and The Power of the Dog with 10 each. For the television side, Succession, Mare of Easttown and Evil emerged as leading nominees.

Here’s the complete list of this year’s winners.

MOVIES

Best picture
The Power of the Dog

Best actor
Will Smith, King Richard

Best actress
Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Best supporting actor
Troy Kotsur, CODA

Best supporting actress
Ariana DeBose, West Side Story

Best young actor/actress
Jude Hill, Belfast

Best acting ensemble
Belfast

Best director
Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog

Best original screenplay
Kenneth Branagh, Belfast

Best adapted screenplay
Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog

Best cinematography
Ari Wegner, The Power of the Dog

Best production design
Patrice Vermette, Zsuzsanna Sipos, Dune

Best editing
Sarah Broshar and Michael Kahn, West Side Story

Best costume design
Jenny Beavan, Cruella

Best hair and makeup
The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Best visual effects
Dune

Best comedy
Licorice Pizza

Best animated feature
The Mitchells vs the Machines

Best foreign language film
Drive My Car

Best song
“No Time to Die” – No Time to Die

Best score
Hans Zimmer, Dune

TELEVISION

Best drama series
Succession

Best actor in a drama series
Lee Jung-jae, Squid Game

Best actress in a drama series
Melanie Lynskey, Yellowjackets

Best supporting actor in a drama series
Kieran Culkin, Succession

Best supporting actress in a drama series
Sarah Snook, Succession

Best comedy series
Ted Lasso

Best actor in a comedy series
Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso

Best actress in a comedy series
Jean Smart, Hacks

Best supporting actor in a comedy series
Brett Goldstein, Ted Lasso

Best supporting actress in a comedy series
Hannah Waddingham, Ted Lasso

Best limited series
Mare of Easttown

Best movie made for television
Oslo

Best actor in a limited series or movie made for television
Michael Keaton, Dopesick

Best actress in a limited series or movie made for television
Kate Winslet, Mare of Easttown

Best supporting actor in a limited series or movie made for television
Murray Bartlett, The White Lotus

Best supporting actress in a limited series or movie made for television
Jennifer Coolidge, The White Lotus

Best foreign language series
Squid Game

Best animated series
What If…?

Best talk show
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Best comedy special
Bo Burnham: Inside

The 27th annual Critics Choice Awards, hosted by Taye Diggs and Nicole Byer, are airing live on The CW and TBS on Sunday, March 13.

Jaime Camil Signs First Look Deal with Paramount’s VIS for Paramount+ TV & Film Projects

Posted on March 10, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Jaime Camil is getting a first look…

The 48-year-old Mexican actor/singer and Jane the Virgin scene-stealer has signed a first look deal with VIS, a division of Paramount, to develop a variety of television and film projects for Paramount+.

Under the terms of the agreement, he’ll create, develop and produce exclusive Spanish language and majority-Spanish language scripted and non-scripted content for the streaming service.

“We are excited to welcome Jaime Camil to our roster of global talent working to bring the best premium content to Paramount+,” said JC Acosta, President of International Studios & Networks Southern Europe, Latin America, Middle East & Africa, in an exclusive statement to Deadline. “With Jaime’s experience and creative focus, we are confident that he’ll bring the best Spanish-language content to Paramount+ that resonates with our audiences around the world.”

Added Camil, “Paramount is home to some of the most beloved and iconic films and television shows of all time. I am thrilled and humbled to join their family. Throughout history, stories have been one of the most potent drivers of society and culture. Storytelling generates empathy and it imparts wisdom through characters in place of lived experience.

“Additionally, through the prism of art, story allows us to contextualize and also see a deeper beauty within our own lives,” he continued. “I look forward to developing and producing meaningful stories with the amazing team at Paramount. I can’t wait to show the world what we have in store.”

Before making a splash in the English-language market as Rogelio de la Vega on the CW’s Jane the Virgin, Camil was already a bona fide star in Latin America.

While working on Jane the Virgin and after the show concluded in 2019, he worked as a voice actor in multiple films including Coco, Hotel Transylvania 3, and The Secret Life of Pets and The Secret Life of Pets 2; and on the small screen: Elena of Avalor, DuckTales, BoJack Horseman, and Green Eggs and Ham.

Camil most recently starred as Doc Jorge Lopez in the Apple TV+ comedy Schmigadoon! and the Steven Soderbergh feature Kimi released in February via HBO Max.

He is currently shooting the Vicente Fernandez biopic The Idol of the People in the titular role. The Caracol TV production will be released exclusively on Netflix domestically.

The CW Orders Six Additional Scripts of Robert Rodriguez’s Zorro Reboot Project with a Female Lead

Posted on February 4, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Robert Rodriguez’s Zorro television project with a female lead is one step closer to becoming reality.

The CW has ordered an additional six scripts for the long-gestating Zorro reboot from the 53-year-old Mexican American filmmaker/writer, bringing the script total to 7.

In addition to Rodriguez, the CW’s gender-swapped reimagining of the classic masked vigilante character also hails from writer-director Rebecca Rodriguez, Sean Tretta (Mayans M.C.), Ben Silverman and Howard T. Owens’ Propagate and CBS Studios.

The CW has not specified what the next step would be for Zorro if the network brass are happy with the new scripts, but a straight-to-series order is likely.

This is a variation of the straight-to-series model, which the network has employed with a different degree of success over the past two years.

The CW’s Zorro is a new incarnation of the project, which was in development at NBC during the 2020-21 cycle, with Tretta as a new addition to the brother-and-sister writing team of Robert and Rebecca Rodriguez.

Co-penned by the trio and to be directed by Rebecca Rodriguez, in Zorro, a young Latinx woman seeking vengeance for her father’s murder joins a secret society and adopts the outlaw persona of Zorro. The story by Robert and Rebecca Rodriguez was already in place when Tretta, who has an overall deal at CBS Studios, came on board earlier this cycle to write the script.

Tretta, who also will serve as showrunner, and Robert and Rebecca Rodriguez will executive produce with Silverman, Owens and Rodney Ferrell for Propagate.

Propagate originally set out to develop a Zorro TV series with a female lead in 2019 as one of the company’s first projects under its first-look deal with CBS Studios. The idea’s first incarnation, written by Alfredo Barrios Jr., was set up at NBC, as was the 2020-21 version with Robert and Rebecca Rodriguez, which also had Sofia Vergara attached as an executive producer. She is no longer involved in the project.

Robert Rodriguez was attached to direct The Mask of Zorro and cast Antonio Banderas as the title role before leaving the feature project.

In TV, he currently serves as an executive producer-director on Disney+’s The Book of Boba Fett. He previously developed and executive produced the series adaptation of his movie From Dusk Till Dawn for his television network El Rey and also executive produced the Spy Kids animated series offshoot for Netflix. He recently directed an episode of Disney+’s The Mandalorian.

Rebecca Rodriguez’s recent directing credits include episodes of HBO Max’s Doom Patrol, NBC’s Debris, TNT’s Snowpiercer and Showtime’s The Chi.

Jaime Camil to Star as Vicente Fernandez in “The Idol of the People” Series, to Air Globally on Netflix

Posted on December 17, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Jaime Camil will be portraying a late Mexican idol…

The 48-year-old Mexican actor, singer and television personality will star as the late Vicente Fernandez in a series based on his life.

The news arrives on the heels of Fernandez’s death last week at age 81.

The project, titled The Idol of the People, is a Caracol TV production and will air on the Colombian television network.

Netflix has taken world rights to the series outside of Colombia.

Camil has spoken at length on social media about how honored he is to play Chente, a shortened version of the name Vicente that served as one of his many monikers.

“Portraying Vicente Fernandez, without a doubt, is one of the biggest and most important challenges of my career,” he wrote in Spanish via Instagram in September. “In my opinion, Chente is Mexico’s biggest idol and the most monumental exponent of Mexican music all over the world.”

Fernandez earned three Grammy Awards throughout his five-decade career for Best Regional Mexican Album in 2009, 2016, and 2016 from a total 13 nominations. He recorded more than 50 albums, sold more than 50 million records and appeared in more than 30 films.

Fernandez had been suffering medical complications after a fall at his home this summer that injured his cervical spine and required an operation.

After Fernandez’s death, Camil paid tribute to the Ranchera legend while reflecting on how much he’s learned about him through his portrayal in the series via Twitter.

“Thanks to the project I’m working on, I’ve been able to learn the history, infancy, journey, legacy, and all the adversities he faced. My Chente, to get to be the person you were has taught me to respect you, to love you, and to honor you even more. No one can deny Vicente is a monument and a treasure for Mexico and Ranchera music on a global scale,” he said in part.

Camil is a veteran actor of Spanish-language telenovelas who made a splash stateside in the role of Rogelio de la Vega in the CW’s Jane the Virgin. After the series wrapped, he starred in the short-lived CBS series Broke, and has lent his voice to animated series including Elena of Avalor, BoJack Horseman, and currently stars as Doc Lopez in the Apple TV+ series Schmigadoon!

He also released two full-length albums in 1999 and 2002. Camil is expected to sing in The Idol of the People.

Wilmer Valderrama Teams Up with Rafael Agustín & Marvin Lemus to Develop Drama/Satire Series “Hipster Death Rattle”

Posted on December 7, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Wilmer Valderrama is rattle to roll…

The 41-year-old Colombian/Venezuelan American actor and NCIS co-star is teaming up with Rafael Agustín and Marvin Lemus to develop Hipster Death Rattle, a drama/satire with comedic elements for The CW.

The one-hour series from CBS Studios—based on the novel of the same name by Richie Narvaez—is set in a historically Latino neighborhood that’s falling victim to aggressive gentrification.

According to the show’s logline, “Someone is killing the ‘woke’ yet pretentious new hipsters. But who? And worse – do the locals even care? The victims were just hiking up rent anyway!’”Both Agustín and Lemus will executive produce alongside Valderrama and Kaitlin Saltzman for WV Entertainment, and Corinne Brinkerhoff and Tiffany Grant for Green Ribbon. Agustín will also write, and Lemus is set to direct.

Agustín serves as CEO of the Latino Film Institute, overseeing the Youth Cinema Project, their project-based learning educational film program, and the annual Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival.

He was a writer on the CW’s Jane the Virgin and a Sundance fellow for his TV family comedy, Illegal, based on his life as a formerly undocumented American.

Agustín is currently writing his comedic undocumented memoir, Illegally Yours, for Grand Central Publishing.

Lemus is an award-winning screenwriter, director, and producer. He co-created and directed Netflix’s Gentefied, which released its second season in November. He also served as co-showrunner on Season 2.

Melissa De Sousa Signs with Mainstay Entertainment

Posted on December 2, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Melissa De Sousa has new management…

The 54-year-old Panamanian American actress has signed with Mainstay Entertainment for management.

De Sousa, best known for her role as the infamous Shelby in Universal’s The Best Man and The Best Man Holiday, films will next be seen starring opposite Morris Chestnut in the Peacock limited series The Best Man: The Final Chapters based on the films, which set to begin shooting in 2022.

Also on the television side, De Sousa recently wrapped the first season of Our Kind of People opposite Chestnut for Fox.

Her other recent credits include recurring as Chief Ana Lopez on CW’s Black Lightning and as the pill popping journalist Mirta Herrera on Showtime’s On Becoming a God in Central Florida, opposite Kirsten Dunst.

De Sousa continues to be repped by A3 Artists Agency and Meyer & Downs.

Bianca Santos to Star in the Indie Thriller “Invitation to a Murder”

Posted on December 2, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Bianca Santos has accepted a new invitation…

The 31-year-old Brazilian and Cuban American actress will star alongside Mischa Barton and Seamus Dever in Stephen Shimek’s indie thriller, Invitation to a Murder.

The film sees a reclusive billionaire invite six seemingly random strangers to his island estate, including aspiring detective Miranda Green (Barton). When another guest turns up dead, Miranda must get to the bottom of the plot behind the gathering to prove herself and maybe save her life.

Santos will play Carmen Blanco, a poor waitress from Seville who joins Green and Dever’s attorney Lawrence Kane as a guest at the mansion. She gets swept up in a romance with another guest, but when things take a deadly turn, she must decide whose side she’s on.

Brian O’Donnell penned the film, which is based on an original story by Gérard Miller.

It’s now in production in Chicago.

Zeus Zamani and Brian Vilim are producing, with ACE Entertainment’s Sebastien Semon and Jerome Reydner-Kalfon executive producing.

Santos is best known for her turn as Lexi Rivera in Freeform drama series The Fosters, and as Maya in The CW’s fantasy series Legacies.

The actress has previously starred on the film side in Ouija, The Duff and Priceless.

Ilana Peña Teaming Up with Crystal Ferreiro to Develop the Dramedy “Hermanas” for The CW

Posted on October 12, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

It’s sister time for Ilana Peña…

The Latina writer, who created Diary of a Future President, is teaming up once again with the Disney+ series’ writer Crystal Ferreiro on the project Hermanas, a drama with some humor in development at the CW.

The project hails from Jerry Bruckheimer Television and CBS Studios, where Peña and JBTV are under deals.

Written by Ferreiro with Peña supervising, Hermanas follows three sisters—individually described as a “hot mess,” a “rigid overachiever” and a “homemaker who never left”—who reunite in their small town in Naples, FL after their brother, the crown jewel of the family, gets into a debilitating accident. As the women put their resentments aside to help him, the Primés realize that the sanitized version you present to family evaporates when you’re in close quarters, and what’s exposed is your most messy, authentic and vulnerable self.

Ferreiro executive produces alongside Peña, who executive produces under her Tilde Productions banner and will serve as showrunner. Jerry Bruckheimer, Jonathan Littman and KristieAnne Reed executive produce for Jerry Bruckheimer Television.

Peña is creator, showrunner, EP and director of Diary of a Future President, which recently saw the release of its second season. Ferreiro was a writer on the CBS Studios-produced series.

Melissa De Sousa to Appear on Fox’s Drama Series “Our Kind of People”

Posted on October 7, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Melissa De Sousa has found her people…

The 54-year-old Panamanian American actress has landed a recurring role opposite Morris Chestnut and Yaya DaCosta in the Fox drama series Our Kind of People, from writer/executive producer Karin Gist and executive producer Lee Daniels.

The role reunites De Sousa with Chestnut, with whom she stars in The Best Man franchise. Joe Morton also stars in the series.

Inspired by Lawrence Otis Graham’s book Our Kind of People: Inside America’s Black Upper Class, the series written by Gist takes place in the aspirational world of Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard, a historical stronghold where the rich and powerful Black elite have come to play for more than 50 years.

Our Kind of People follows strong-willed single mom Angela Vaughn (DaCosta) as she sets out to reclaim her family’s name and make an impact with her revolutionary haircare line that highlights the innate, natural beauty of Black women. But she soon discovers a dark secret about her mother’s past that will turn her world upside-down and shake up this community forever.

De Sousa will play Alex Rivera. Attractive and savvy, Alex Rivera is an accomplished financial reporter and Raymond’s (Chestnut’s) ex-wife.

A co-production between 20th Century Fox Television and Fox Entertainment, Our Kind of People is executive produced by Gist and Claire Brown via The Gist of It Productions; Daniels and Marc Velez via Lee Daniels Entertainment; Pam Williams; Ben Silverman, Howard T. Owens and Rodney Ferrell via Propagate; and Montrel McKay.

De Sousa, best known for her performance as the infamous Shelby in the Universal franchise The Best Man and The Best Man Holiday, will next star opposite Chestnut in the Peacock limited series The Best Man: The Final Chapter.

She most recently recurred as Chief Ana Lopez on the CW’s Black Lightning and as the pill-popping journalist Mirta Herrera on Showtime’s On Becoming A God In Central Florida opposite Kirsten Dunst.

Xolo Maridueña to Star in & Executive Produce the Action Drama Series “The Ledger”

Posted on October 3, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Xolo Maridueña is livin’ on the ledge(r)…

The 20-year-old Mexican, Cuban and Ecuadorian American actor and Cobra Kai star has been cast in and will executive produce the action drama series The Ledger, which hails from veteran showrunner and producer Juan Carlos Coto and Will Packer Media.

Coto, who has worked on 9-1-1 and From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series, will write and serve as showrunner. Will Packer will produce and Alvie Hurtado, Director of Development, WPP will oversee the project. Brandon Guzmán will executive produce.

The series will be shopped to streaming networks and premium cable.

Maridueña stars as Miguel Diaz on Netflix’s Cobra Kai, which is heading into its fourth season.

He is also set to star as Blue Beetle for Warner Bros. and DC. Maridueña is represented by UTA, Valor Entertainment and John Meigs

Best known for his work as showrunner on Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series, Coto currently is executive producer on Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Tim Minear’s hit Fox drama series 9-1-1. He also served as consulting producer on 9-1-1: Lone Star. Coto previously co-executive produced the CW’s spy thriller Nikita and has written and produced critically acclaimed series including NBC’s Heroes and Fox’s 24.

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