Aimee Garcia to Appear on Paramount+’s “Criminal Minds: Evolution” for Season Three

Aimee Garcia’s career evolution continues…

The 45-year-old Puerto Rican & Mexican American actress has joined the cast of Paramount+’s Criminal Minds: Evolution for the show’s third season.

Aimee GarciaIn a multiple-episode arc, Garcia will portray Dr. Julia Ochoa, one of the country’s leading neuropsychiatrists who is assigned to help a high-profile patient recover from his injury-induced brain trauma. She clashes with Alvarez (Adam Rodriguez) who, by contrast, believes in a more aggressive approach than her gentle approach.

Criminal Minds: Evolution is an expansion of the original CBS series, which ran from 2005-2020. In the current season, the FBI’s elite team of criminal profilers comes up against an UnSub who has used the pandemic to build a network of other serial killers. As the world opens back up and the network goes operational, the team must hunt them down, one murder at a time.

The series stars Joe Mantegna, A.J. Cook, Kirsten Vangsness, Aisha Tyler, Zach Gilford, Ryan-James Hatanaka with Rodriguez and Paget Brewster.

ABC Signature and CBS Studios produce the series. Erica Messer serves as showrunner and executive producer.

Currently, Garcia stars opposite Adam Scott in Netflix’s upcoming animated series Strip Law and headlines The Cases of Mystery Lane franchise for Hallmark/Peacock. Garcia starred on Netflix’s Lucifer for five seasons and headlined Netflix’s film Christmas With You opposite Freddie Prinze Jr.

Additional credits include Hulu’s Woke, Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K, ABC’s The George Lopez Show, which earned her an Impact and ALMA Award, José Padilha’s RoboCopThe Addams Family with Charlize Theron and Oscar Isaac and James L. Brooks’ Spanglish.

Ektor Rivera to Star in Upcoming Hallmark Film “Groundswell”

Ektor Rivera is feeling (ground)swell…

The Puerto Rican actor, singer and visual artist will star opposite Lacey Chabert in the Hallmark film Groundswell. The project is set to premiere on August 21 on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.

Groundswell is an adaptation of Katie Lee Biegel’s debut novel. Beigel serves as executive producer on the project and will make a cameo appearance.

In Groundswell, on the heels of a personal and professional setback, Atlanta chef Emma (Chabert) travels to Hawaii where she meets Ben (Rivera), a handsome, reclusive surf instructor whose lessons help her to regain her footing.

“I am a huge fan of Lacey’s movies, and she has been my dream choice to play Emma, from Day 1,” said Biegel. “This project is close to my heart, and there is no one better to bring us along on Emma’s journey.”

Groundswell, from Crown Media Productions, is executive produced by Cameron Johann. Ric Galindez and Roy Tjioe are producers. Lee Friedlander is directing from a script by Carlie Mantilla & John Eliot Jordan.

Chabert signed a multi-picture deal with Crown Media Family Networks in February under which she will headline and executive produce movies and develop other content for Hallmark Channel and other Hallmark platforms over the next two years.

Arienne Mandi Starring in Hallmark Channel’s “Love, Classified”

Arienne Mandi’s latest project is classified

The 27-year-old half-Chilean American actress and The L Word: Generation Q star will appear in Hallmark’s romantic comedy Love, Classified.

Arienne MandiMandi will star alongside Melora HardinKatherine McNamara and Max Lloyd-Jones in the project.

The TV movie is set to premiere in April.

Hardin portrays romance novelist Emilia, described as a whirlwind who blows back into the lives of her adult children, Taylor (McNamara) and Zach (Lloyd-Jones), under the pretense of a book signing arranged by her hometown’s local book shop. As Emilia tries to reconnect, Taylor and Zach explore new and past relationships through an app that boasts old-fashioned human connection by way of the classified ad. Zach is given a chance to heal old wounds while Taylor matches with a woman that changes the way she’s always thought about love.

“This is such a fun story from writer Lynn Sternberger, that is ultimately a story of love, family, and commitment in all its forms. With a cast that includes Melora Hardin, Arienne Mandi, Katherine McNamara, and Max Lloyd-Jones to help bring this movie to life will no doubt put a smile on the faces of our viewers this spring,” said Lisa Hamilton Daly, EVP Programming Crown Media Family Networks.

Scotty McCreery’s “Five More Minutes” Getting Hallmark Television Movie Treatment

Scotty McCreery is getting five more minutes on television…

The 28-year-old part-Puerto Rican country singer and former American Idol champion’s 2018 Billboard Country Airplay chart-topper “Five More Minutes” will be getting the Hallmark television movie treatment.

Scotty McCreery

The song has inspired a movie by the same title, which will air on November 20 at 10:00 pm ET on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel.

In the movie, which stars Nikki DeLoach and David Haydn-Jones, a woman’s holiday wish is answered in unexpected ways when her late grandfather’s journal is discovered, revealing a previously untold romance.

Though McCreery will not appear in the movie, he does serve as an executive producer on the project.

McCreery wrote “Five More Minutes” alongside Frank Rogers and Monty Criswell, and the song was one of three consecutive No. 1 Country Airplay hits from McCreery’s 2018 album Seasons Change.

“It’s [about] my grandaddy. That’s my story, but I think people relate to every part of the song,” McCreery told Billboard of “Five More Minutes” in 2018.

In that same interview, McCreery also recalled a key moment when he realized the song stood a good chance of becoming a hit. “We sang [‘Five More’] live at the Grand Ole Opry, and kinda debuted it for the fans in [June] 2016, and I’ve never had a standing ovation at the Opry like that, period. Somebody said the other day, ‘The Opry crowd, they wanna sit. They don’t wanna stand up.’ Opry put it on their YouTube channel — we didn’t know they were gonna do it, and I woke up the next morning and I’m the No. 1 trending topic on Twitter and Facebook. I was like, ‘Crap, what did I do last night?’ Trying to jog my memory. Then I saw it was that video, and I was like, ‘Dang!’ It was getting shared like hotcakes. We had a good indication that it was gonna work [as a single].”

McCreery recently earned his fourth consecutive Country Airplay No. 1 hit with “You Time,” a single from his latest album Same Truck, which was released last month.

Carey Signs with United Talent Agency (UTA)

Mariah Carey has new representation…

The 45-year-old half-Venezuelan American singer has signed with United Talent Agency (UTA) in all areas, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Mariah CareyCarey was previously at Creative Artists Agency (CAA).

UTA will represent the Grammy winner across all areas, including music, touring, film, television, digital, licensing and endorsements. Carey is currently maintaining a Las Vegas residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, where #1 to Infinity began this May and will run beyond next February.

In December she’ll return to New York City for a series of Christmas concerts before embarking on a European tour in the spring, which UTA will put together. It will be her first tour in that continent in 13 years.

“Mariah is one of the greatest artists of this or any generation,” UTA chairman Jim Berkus said in a statement. “She is a true multi-talent, and we’re thrilled to help her continue to push every creative boundary.”

Carey has sold more than 200 million albums worldwide and won five Grammy Awards, starting with best new artist and best pop vocal performance, female in 1990. The latter was for her breakout single “Vision of Love,” and through 2008’s “Touch My Body,” the legendary songstress has had 18 singles hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, more than any solo artist ever.

In the fall, Carey is slated to direct a TV movie for Hallmark. As an actress, her screen credits include Precious and Lee Daniels’ The Butler.