Gravitas Ventures Acquires North American Rights to Julia Camara’s Post-Apocalyptic Thriller “Stronghold”

Posted on May 21, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Julia Camara will soon have a stronghold in North America…

Gravitas Ventures has acquired the North American rights to the post-apocalyptic thriller Stronghold, directed by the Brazilian writer/filmmaker.

In addition to the United States and Canada, Gravitas wants to add Latin American territories in addition to Mexico, including the Caribbean and sub territories.

Stronghold is a dystopian tale of resilience in which a young survivalist and her mother live completely isolated in the woods. When a distressed stranger appears, their lives are disrupted and their future threatened.

Toplining Camara’s cast are Bianca A. Santos and Jaqueline Fleming as the familial pair in peril, and Oliver Rayón as the stranger who threatens the isolated duo.

The film premiered at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles.

Camara wrote the sci-fi feature Area Q (starring Isaiah Washington), the road movie Open Road (Andy Garcia, Juliette Lewis, Camilla Belle) and the multi-award winning sci-fi found footage feature Occupants (with Robert Picardo).

When not behind the camera, she teaches screenwriting at UCLA Extension Writers Program and at Sundance Collab. Camara was a mentor for the Sundance Labs in 2022.

Kevin Alves Upped to Series Regular on Showtime’s “Yellowjackets”

Posted on September 28, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Kevin Alves will be seeing more yellow(jackets) next season…

The 30-year-old Brazilian Canadian actor and figure skater, who portrays Travis Martinez on Showtime’s Yellowjackets, has been upped to series regular.

Travis is the son of Bill Martinez, the head coach of the Yellowjackets girls soccer team. The players were bound for the nationals when their plane crashed in the wilderness of Canada and the coach was killed.

Travis, who’s a guarded and insecure teen, ended up starting a romance with Natalie Scatorccio, played by Sophie Thatcher as a teen and Juliette Lewis as an adult.

Travis was played as an adult in season one by Andres Soto.

Before Yellowjackets, Alves recurred for two seasons on Shadowhunters as Bat Belasquez and Locke & Key as Javi Gonzalez.

He previously appeared on Warehouse 13 and as Fabio on Degrassi: The Next Generation.

New cast members set for the second season of Yellowjackets include Elijah Wood, Lauren Ambrose and Simone Kessell.

The drama is from Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson and is produced for Showtime by studio Entertainment One (eOne).

Peacock to Premiere “Queer as Folk” Reboot, Starring Johnny Sibilly, in June

Posted on May 19, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

This upcoming Pride Month will be extra special for Johnny Sibilly…

Along with releasing the first official trailer for the 34-year-old Cuban and Dominican American actor’s Queer As Folk reboot, Peacock has announced plans to premiere the series on Thursday, June 9.

The series, a vibrant reimagining of the groundbreaking British series created by Russell T. Davies, explores a diverse group of friends in New Orleans whose lives are transformed in the aftermath of a tragedy.

From creator Stephen Dunn, Queer As Folk stars Devin Way, Fin Argus, Jesse James Keitel, CG, Sibilly and Ryan O’Connell. Recurring cast includes Kim Cattrall, Juliette Lewis, Ed Begley Jr., Chris Renfro, and Nyle DiMarco, among others.

Lee Eisenberg, Emily Brecht, original British series creator Russell T. Davies, Nicola Shindler, serve as executive producers, and Louise Pedersen on behalf of All3 Media International, which distributes the format and the original British series produced by Red Productions for Channel 4.

Creator, writer, and executive producer Stephen Dunn will direct the pilot and other episodes, while Jaclyn Moore will act as writer and executive producer. UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group, is named producer on the show.

Kevin Alves to Appear in Showtime’s Drama Series “Yellowjackets”

Posted on June 13, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Kevin Alves is seeing yellow…

The 29-year-old half-Brazilian Canadian actor and figure skater has joined the cast of Showtime’s drama series Yellowjackets.

Alves is part of a roster of new cast additions that includes Sarah Desjardins and Alexa Barajas. The three will appear in recurring roles.

Melanie Lynskey, Juliette Lewis, Christina Ricci and Tawny Cypress star in the drama series from writers Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, Entertainment One and studio-based producer Drew Comins. Production has begun in Vancouver, Canada for a 2021 debut on the network.

Equal parts survival epic, psychological horror story and coming-of-age drama, Yellowjackets is the saga of a team of wildly talented high school girls soccer players who become the (un)lucky survivors of a plane crash deep in the remote northern wilderness. The series chronicles their descent from a complicated but thriving team to savage clans, while also tracking the lives they’ve attempted to piece back together nearly 25 years later, proving that the past is never really past and what began out in the wilderness is far from over.

Desjardins plays Callie, the teenaged daughter of Shauna (Lynskey).

Alves portrays teenage Travis. Guarded, insecure, and sometimes obnoxious, teenage Travis struggles to be decent while using his mask of indifference to navigate his inexperience with girls and figure out how to live among them.

Barajas plays teenage Mari. A member of the varsity Yellowjackets, she’s known as a chatterbox and yearns for the attention of the popular crowd.

Ella Purnell, Sammi Hanratty, Sophie Thatcher, Sophie Nélisse, Steven Krueger and Jasmin Savoy Brown also star in Yellowjackets, described tonally as Big Little Lies meets Lord of the Flies.

Desjardins is known for her portrayal of Donna Sweett in Riverdale and has also appeared in series including Impulse, Project Mc² and Van Helsing.

Alves can most recently be seen in Locke & Key and Shadowhunters.

Barajas can currently be seen as Ultraviolet on The Flash. Her other credits include feature Endless and the CW’s Charmed.

Peter Gadiot to Appear on Showtime’s Drama Series “Yellowjackets”

Posted on June 4, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Peter Gadiot is seeing yellow(jackets)…

The 35-year-old half-Mexican actor has landed a recurring role on Showtime’s drama series Yellowjackets.

Gadiot joins a roster of new cast additions that includes Warren Kole, Keeya King and Alex Wyndham.

Production has begun in Vancouver, Canada for a 2021 debut on the network.

Gadiot will portray Adam, a magnetic and curious stranger who, drawn to something inexplicable in one of our adult Yellowjackets, will befriend and provoke her at a tumultuous time in her life.

Ella Purnell, Sammi Hanratty, Sophie Thatcher, Sophie Nélisse, Steven Krueger and Jasmin Savoy Brown also star in Yellowjackets, described tonally as Big Little Lies meets Lord of the Flies.

Karyn Kusama, who directed the pilot, executive produces. eOne is the studio.

Gadiot can be seen in the lead role of James Valdez in Queen of the South, which is wrapping up its fifth and final season.

His other credits include Supergirl, Tut, Matador, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, Fresh Meat, Hot Mess and The Forbidden Girl.

Brewster to Star in ABC’s Anthology Crime Drama Series “Secrets & Lies”

Posted on August 2, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Jordana Brewster has secrets & lies to share…

The 35-year-old Brazilian-Panamanian actress has joined the cast of ABC’s anthology crime drama series Secrets & Lies for its upcoming second season.

Season 2 picks up with detective Andrea Cornell (Juliette Lewis) investigating a new crime, the murder of Eric Warner’s (Michael Ealy) wife.

Brewster will play Kate Warner, an accomplished attorney who runs the compliance department for the Warner family-owned private equity firm.

Terry O’Quinn also stars.

Secrets & Lies, from ABC Studios, was developed for American television by Barbie Kligman based on the original Australian series.

Brewster, who had a recurring role in the NBC TV series Chuck, last appeared on television on TNT’s Dallas.

Guzman Appears in First Trailer for Universal Pictures’ “Jem And The Holograms”

Posted on May 15, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Ryan Guzman is Rio for his close-up…

The 27-year-old Mexican-American actor appears in the first trailer for Universal Pictures’ Jem And The Holograms, the film adaptation of the popular animated series.

Guzman stars as Jem’s love interest Rio Pacheco in the film , which stars Aubrey Peeples as the iconic Jem character and her alter ego Jerrica Benson.

“I, Jerrica Benson, am living the most unexceptional life. … At some point we all wish we could become someone else,” states Peeples at the beginning of the clip.

Peeples stars as a kid who writes songs that no one outside of her family hears — until sister Kimber (Stefanie Scott) uploads a video that explodes on YouTube. Suddenly she and her three sisters are signed by “the biggest record company in the world” — and the hard life lessons begin.

Smarmy company honcho Erica (Juliette Lewis) first changes Jerrica’s name and then the way “Jem” and the group act, sound and look.

Jon M. Chu directs the film from a script by Ryan Landels. Aurora Perrineau and Hayley Kiyoko co-star in the pic based on Hasbro’s cult 1980s cartoon series.

Universal is set to release Jem on October 23.

Martinez’s “Secrets and Lies” to Premiere on ABC in March

Posted on November 20, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Next year will feature plenty of secrets and lies for Natalie Martinez…

ABC’s murder mystery Secrets and Lies, starring the 30-year-old Cuban American actress, will succeed Resurrection on Sundays at 9:00 pm ET.

Based on an Australian format, the series stars Ryan Phillippe and Juliette Lewis. It centers on a family man who finds the body of a young boy while jogging and becomes the prime suspect. He has no choice but to try to find the real killer as his marriage, his kids, his reputation, and his sanity are all at stake.

Martinez, who most recently starred on CBS’ Under the Dome, portrays Jess Mullen on Secrets and Lies.

It will launch with a two-hour premiere from 9-11 PM on March 1 before moving into its regular 9-10 PM slot the following week.

The series also stars KaDee Strickland, Dan Fogler, Indiana Evans, Natalie Crawford and Belle Shouse.

Barbie Kligman developed the series based on the Australian drama

Universal to Release Guzman’s “Jem and The Holograms” in October 2015

Posted on October 17, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Ryan Guzman’s name is Rio and he’ll be dancing on the big screen next October.

Universal Pictures has announced plans to release Jem and The Holograms, starring the 27-year-old half-Mexican American actor, on October 23, 2015.

The live-action film is based on the Hasbro animated series Jem, which ran from 1985 to 1988 in U.S. first-run syndication.

The music-driven film centers on music company owner Jerrica Benton, her singer alter-ego Jem, her band the Holograms, and their adventures.

Guzman will star as Rio Pacheco, Jerrica’s long-time childhood friend and boyfriend.

Jem and The Holograms is being directed by Jon M. Chu and also stars Aubrey Peeples, Stefanie Scott, Aurora Perrineau, Hayley Kiyoko, Juliette Lewis and Molly Ringwald.

Collins Jr. to Star in ABC’s Drama Pilot “Secrets & Lies”

Posted on February 25, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a case of secrets & lies for Clifton Collins Jr. …

The 43-year-old Mexican and Spanish American actor has signed on to co-star alongside Ryan Phillippe, Juliette Lewis and KaDee Strickland in ABC’s drama pilot Secrets & Lies.

The project centers on Ben (Phillippe), a family man who becomes the prime suspect in the murder of a young boy when he finds the body.

Collins, who appeared on the network’s short-lived drama Red Widow last season, will portray Ben’s childhood friend and the tenant in Ben’s pool house who is unwaveringly supportive of Ben.

Collins most recently starred in Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim and guest-starred on NBC’s The Blacklist. His other television credits include The Event, Southland and Alias.

He’ll next appear opposite Johnny Depp in Transcendence.

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