Miguel Nolla could be bringing a taste of Puerto Rican music to television.
Freeform has put Trap Queen, a music rich series created by the Puerto RicanScandaland Roswell, New Mexico writer, in development with Danny Strong executive producing.
An alum of the Disney•ABC Writing Program, Nolla will serve as showrunner on the Puerto Rico-set series.
The drama focuses on a gay young man who returns to Puerto Rico after a life-changing event. With the burgeoning local music scene as both the backdrop and the soundtrack, that move forces him to face family and romantic issues he thought he had left behind and never expected.
Trap music is a tenet of Southern hip-hop that bubbled up into the mainstream in the early 2000s from the likes of T.I.,Jeezy and Gucci Mane. The term trap is a derivative of the Atlanta slang for a place where drugs are purchased and sold.
Over the decades the style has been picked up in various forms by artists from Drake, Kendrick Lamar and Cardi B and all the way to Taylor Swift.
Latin trap is the Puerto Rican subgenre that incorporates some of the island’s reggaetón style and other elements.
A former assistant to Shonda Rhimes, Florida State University grad, Nolla’s other credits include an episode of the Grey’s Anatomy web series, Freeform’s Stitchers, Showtime’s Hombreand Netflix’s First Kill, among more.
The 32-year-old Dominican actress will star in Amazon’s college-set spinoff of The Boys, which is nearing a formal green light.
Carrero will star opposite Shane Paul McGhie and Maddie Phillips in the project.
All three will play young superheroes on the show, joining previously cast Jaz Sinclair and Lizze Broadway who play fellow young superheroes.
Written by The Boys executive producer Craig Rosenberg, the Untitled The Boys Spinoff is set at America’s only college exclusively for young adult superheroes (and run by Vought International). It is described as an irreverent, R-rated series that explores the lives of hormonal, competitive Supes as they put their physical, sexual and moral boundaries to the test, competing for the best contracts in the best cities. Part college show, part Hunger Games— with all the heart, satire and raunch of The Boys.
The spinoff is from the entities behind the original series: Amazon Studios and Sony Pictures Television in association with Point Grey Pictures, Kripke Enterprises and Original Film. Rosenberg will serve as executive producer/showrunner on the spinoff.
Based on the bestselling comic book, The Boys is heading into its third season on Prime Video.
Carrero is best known for her voicing the title roles in Disney Channel’s popular animated series Elena of Avalorand Netflix’s She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. She also was a series regular on Freeform’s long-running sitcomYoung & Hungryand recurred on the NBC dramasBlindspotand The Village.
The 40-year-old Cuban-Jamaican American television host, reality television personality, author and activist has joined the upcoming fourth and final season of Netflix’s Dear White People in a recurring role. Season 4 is slated to premiere in 2021.
Based on Justin Simien’s acclaimed debut indie feature, Dear White People is set against the backdrop of a predominantly white Ivy League university where racial tensions bubble just below the surface. The satirical series — which picks up where the 2014 SundanceFilm Festival hit left off – follows a group of Winchester University’s students of color as they navigate a diverse landscape of social injustice, cultural bias, political correctness (or lack thereof) and activism in the millennial age.
Stars Marque Richardson, Logan Browning, Brandon P. Bell, Antoinette Robertson, DeRon Horton, John Patrick Amedori and Ashley Blaine Featherson are slated to return for Season 4. The 10-episode series is produced by Lionsgate.
Brown received a 2020 Primetime Emmy nomination as Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition program for Queer Eye. He most recently starred in Freeform’s romantic comedy The Thing About Harryopposite Jake Borelli.
Brown is the co-founder of the beauty and skincare company MANTL that launched online last year and now sold nationwide in Nordstrom. He also is the author ofKaramo: My Story of Embracing Purpose, Healing, and Hopeand I Am Perfectly Designed, co-written with his son Jason ‘Rachel’ Brown. Available through Luminary, Brown’s podcast, Karamo, is an in-depth look at life’s thorniest issues through the lens of his celebrity guests and fans from around the world.
The Latina actress will join Starz/Lionsgate’s Power prequel series, PowerBook III: Raising Kananin a recurring role.
From creator and showrunner Sascha Penn, Power Book III: Raising Kanan takes viewers back to the ’90s and the early years of the now-deceased Kanan Stark, portrayed in Courtney Kemp’s original series by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson.
Linez, also known for appearing as Nicole Martinez on Freeform’s Sirens, will portray Jessica Figueroa a sharp and ambitious twenty-something who moves to South Jamaica, Queens from Baltimore. Famous’ older sister, Jessica is swept off her feet by Lou-Lou and his kind heart.
Linez will join series regulars Patina Miller, Mekai Curtis, Omar Epps, Hailey Kilgore, Lovie Simone, London Brown, Malcolm Mays, Shanley Caswell, Toby Sandeman and Joey Bada$$, along with Quincy Brown and Ade Chike Torbert, who recur.
The 31-year-old half-Mexican Canadian actress has been cast in Like It Used to Be, joining previously announced fellow Latina stars Gina Rodriguez and Karla Souza.
Bernardo Cubria wrote the comedy, which centers on four female best friends. While on a final road trip to Mexico, one of them learns some life-changing news.
Toubia will play Sofia, a well-to-do Mexican woman with a hippie/designer fashion sense who joins the girls on the road trip.
Jolene Rodriguez of Broken English Productions is producing the film alongside Rodriguez, via her production company I Can & I Will, and Souza.
Toubia is best known for her role as Isabelle Lightwood on the Freeform series Shadowhunters.
Her other credits include the TV movie Love in the Sunand telenovela Voltea Pa’Que Te Enamores.
ABC has put in development In The End, a drama from the 39-year-old Afro-Puerto Rican screenwriter, producer and Pose co-creator and his Story Ave. Productions, and 20th Century Fox Television, where Canals is under a deal.
Written and executive produced by Canals, the project centers on Kiona Brown, who, incapable of living life to the fullest, makes the only logical choice – to embrace death as an end-of-life doula. With an eclectic list of patients – including cancer survivor Mariana Cortez – Kiona soon discovers the secret to a new beginning is to embrace what happens…in the end.
In The End is among the first projects for Canals under his overall deal with 20th Century Fox Television.
Canals co-created and executive produces the Emmy– and Golden Globe-nominated and Peabody Award-winning drama series Pose, named one of the Best TV Programs of the Year by the American Film Institute in 2018 and 2019. It will return for a third season in 2020.
A 2015 graduate of UCLA’s MFA Screenwriting program, Canals began his journey as a storyteller in high school, producing the documentary short Turf Violence: What’s It All About?co-funded by HBO Family. He went on to earn a BA in Cinema, and a Masters in Student Affairs & Diversity from Binghamton University. While attending UCLA, Canals served as a Research Assistant at Hungry Jackal Productions. In 2016 Canals was a staff writer on Freeform’s Dead of Summer, the same year his short film, Afuera, premiered at the LA Film Festival.
He made his TV directorial debut with the eighth episode of the second season ofPose titled “Revelations.”
Bella Thorne is makin’ bank while doing some research for her next project…
The 22-year-old half-Cuban American actress/singer has reportedly earned $2 million since joining OnlyFans.
Thorne became a part of the subscription-only social media platform on Wednesday, charging users $20 a month for access to her feed.
The site — which allows influencers, adult entertainers and celebrities to share content that might be too X-rated for Instagram or Twitter — also hosts pages from Cardi Band some members of Bravo‘s Real Housewives programs.
But Thorne isn’t on OnlyFans just to make bank. She admits that’s certainly part of it: She’s planning on putting the earnings into her production company and toward charity.
But she also says she’s using the site as research for a new movie she’s making with Sean Baker, the director of such critically acclaimed indie films as The Florida Project andTangerine.
“It’s a feature we are researching as I’m living it currently,” Thorne explained via text message. “What are the ins and outs? What does a platform like this do to its users? What’s the connective material between your life and your life inside the world of OnlyFans? … How can it change your life for the worse and the better? How far are you willing to go, and how far do you WANT to go? You can be me, or this talented girl from Montana, and OnlyFans could change your life — if you want it to, of course.”
Thorne said she plans to act in the film, which would be written and directed by Baker. The filmmaker declined to comment on the movie, but a source close to the project said it was “very early in its development — in its infancy — and probably years away from turning into anything.”
Thorne is still figuring out what she wants to share with OnlyFans users. So far, her page does feature some suggestive imagery — numerous bikini photos, her eating a hot dog — but nothing explicitly graphic.
In a poll, however, she did ask her fans what type of content they’d like from her; tongue teasing, lingerie, booty, showering and twerking were among the answers.
Ultimately, she said, she’s hoping her page can become a place she “can really just be more personal with my fans,” sending them “good night and good morning personal messages” via voice memo. She also plans to offer classes on writing in Final Draft, baking and songwriting.
Thorne, who rose to fame as a child star on the Disney Channel series Shake It Up, has been open about her serious acting ambitions in recent years. Since wrapping the Freeform series Famous in Love in 2018, she’s appeared in five films, most recently a thriller called Infamous, released on video-on-demand in June.
“To win an Oscar — that’s the thing that I’ve always wanted,” Thorne told The Times in 2018. “It goes up every year on my vision board.”
The 70-year-old Spanish American prolific director, choreographer and producer has signed with A3 Artists Agency.
Ortega earned a Primetime Emmy for choreography and a DGA Award for his work on the Disney Channel’s High School Musical.
High School Musical 2 drew over 17 million viewers when it premiered on Disney Channel, making it the most watched program in cable telecast history. He’s also the executive producer for the film’s soundtracks.
Disney’s High School Musical 3, which made the leap from television to the big screen, opened to $42M at the domestic B.O., marking the biggest theatrical box office opening for a musical in history. The film earned more than $252M globally off an $11M budget.
Ortega directed and choreographed the Descendants trilogy,Newsies, and Hocus Pocus, and choreographed classic films like Dirty Dancing, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and Pretty in Pink, among others.
On September 10, Netflix will release Ortega’s next directorial project Julie and the Phantoms, a family musical comedy based on a Brazilian television series.
It’s the first title under Ortega’s new multi-year deal with Netflix. He’s also set to direct and produce a feature musical adaptation of Elise Primavera’s book series Auntie Claus, under the pact.
In addition to his Emmy for High School Musical, Ortega earned two others for choreography and variety/music/comedy program direction for the XIX Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony. Last year he received the prestigious Disney Legends Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His other honors include The Fred & Adele Astaire Lifetime Achievement Award, Bob Fosse Award, American Choreography Lifetime Achievement Award, MTV Video Music Award, American Music Award, among many others.
The 27-year-old Colombian American actress/singer will star opposite KJ Apa as star-crossed lovers in the pandemic thriller Songbird, which began filming last week in Los Angeles.
Told from street level through the eyes of the characters, Songbirdtakes place two years into the future, as a lockdown has been re-implemented after a more serious virus continues to mutate. In a feeble attempt to keep the sickness contained, the city has been split into haves and have nots.
Songbird follows an essential worker (Apa) who has a rare immunity, a delivery man who delivers goods and hope throughout the city. Like the vast majority of the population, his girlfriend (Carson) is locked within her home, and the couple have no ability to physically be together.
To be with the one he loves, he must overcome martial law, murderous vigilantes and a powerful, well connected family, helmed by a matriarch (Demi Moore) who will stop at nothing to protect her family and maintain her way of life.
Carson and Apa join the previously announced cast of Moore, Bradley Whitford, Craig Robinson, Jenna Ortega, Paul Walter Hauser, and Peter Stormare.
Adam Mason is directing off a screenplay he co-wrote with Simon Boyes. The film hails from Adam Goodman and Michael Bay.
Carson has more than 18 million followers on social media, over 1.5 billion streams of her music and over 2M subscribers to her YouTube channel.
She currently stars in the Netflix feature film Feel the Beat. She previously starred as “Evie” in Disney’s Descendantsfranchjse and appeared on the Freeform series Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists.
Carson is signed to Hollywood Records/Republic Records and recently released her latest single “Miss U More Than U Know”, which has clocked more than 4.5 million streams to date. Carson is a Global Ambassador for Revlon, and recently unveiled the Revlon x Sofia Carson Collection, an exclusive collection of her favorite Revlon lip products and nail polish.
To commemorate Pride Month, Disney Television Studios and FX have announced the launch of Pose-A-Thon, a commercial-free, one-hour virtual event showcasing the 29-year-old half Puerto Rican actress/singer and her fellow Pose cast mates and producers.
The program aims to raise awareness for three organizations that work to support LGBTQ+education, social change for sexual and gender minority people of color, and transgender equality through legal services and policy efforts.
The special event will encourage viewers to support three of the many charitable LGBTQ+ organizations: GLSEN, Hetrick-Martin Institute, and the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund.
The special, emceed by Rodriguez and Billy Porter, will air Friday, June 26 at 10:00 pm ET/PT on FX and Freeform. Viewers can also tune-in the same day starting at 7 PM PT at www.poseathon.com.
“I’m so proud of our cast and producers for coming together to present an uplifting hour of song and stories,” said Afro-Latino co-creator, executive producer, writer, and director Steven Canals. “In the spirit of Pose, ’our goal is to celebrate joy, love and, of course, pride, from our family to yours.”
Executive producer, writer, and director Janet Mock added, “Since we’ve been unable to shoot the show we love, we jumped at the chance to reunite our Posefamily and partner with the studio and network to raise spirits and awareness about the plight of LGBTQ+ people of color during such a turbulent time. This Pride month special is a commemoration of our forebears’ efforts, a memorial for trans lives lost, and a celebration of the life-saving work of LGBTQ+ organizations.”
Pose-A-Thonunites the voices behind the critically-acclaimed drama series Pose, featuring music and anecdotes from Porter, Rodriguez, Angel Bismark Curiel, Sandra Bernhard, Dyllón Burnside, Steven Canals, Dominique Jackson, Jeremy McClain, Janet Mock, Indya Moore, Our Lady J, Jason Rodriguez, Angelica Ross, Hailie Sahar, Ryan Jamaal Swain, Charlayne Woodard and Patti LuPone.
