Tag Archives: Nina Yang Bongiovi

Netflix Releases Trailer for Tessa Thompson’s Black & White Drama “Passing”

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Tessa Thompson is passing the time…

Netflix has released the official trailer for Rebecca Hall’s period drama Passing, starring the 37-year-old Afro-Panamanian actress and producer and Ruth Negga.

Tessa Thompson, Passing

Hall, making her directorial debut, adapted the film from the 1929 novel by Nella Larson.

Netflix is preparing for the film’s New York Film Festival premiere on October 3, after which it will get a theatrical release followed by a debut on the streaming service on November 10.

The film, shot it black and white, tells the story of two Black women, Irene Redfield (Thompson) and Clare Kendry (Negga), who can “pass” as white but choose to live on opposite sides of the color line during the height of the Harlem Renaissance in late 1920s New York.

After a chance encounter, Irene reluctantly allows Clare into her home, where she ingratiates herself to Irene’s husband (André Holland) and family, and soon her larger social circle as well. Irene soon finds her once-steady existence upended by Clare, and the story becomes one of obsession, repression and the lies people tell themselves and others to protect their carefully constructed realities.

Bill Camp, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Antoinette Crowe-Legacy and Alexander Skarsgard also star in the film, which is produced by Nina Yang Bongiovi, Forest Whitaker, Margot Hand and Hall.

Netflix competed in a field of five bidders to win rights to Passing in a $15 million deal during the Sundance Film Festival.

Its release is timed to the now-underway movie awards season.

Eva Longoria Developing Latinx Family Drama “Chicano,” Based on Richard Vasquez’s Novel, for ABC

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Eva Longoria’s hoping to bring the Chicano story and struggle to the small screen.

The 45-year-old Mexican American actress and former Desperate Housewives star has joined forces with Natalie Chaidez and Forest Whitaker to develop the family drama Chicano, inspired by Richard Vasquez’s novel of the same name, for ABC.

Eva Longoria

Written by Chaidez, known for her work on 12 Monkeys, Hunters and The Sarah Connor Chronicles, the drama is a multi-generational saga about the Sandovals, a Mexican-American family that immigrates to Los Angeles in pursuit of the American Dream.  

It will follow the struggles and triumphs of the Sandoval family from 1920 through present and explores the question of what it means to be American.

Chicano by Richard Vasquez

20th Century Fox Television is the studio on the project, which is being produced in association with Longoria and Ben Spector’s UnbeliEVAble Entertainment and Whitaker and Nina Yang Bongiovi’s Significant Productions. 

ABC has handed the project a script and additional development material plus penalty commitment. Chaidez, Longoria, Spector, Whitaker, Yang Bongiovi serve as executive producers.

It’s the latest ABC project for UnbeliEVAble Entertainment, which is currently under a deal at 20th Century Fox Studios Television. The company previously produced Grand Hotel. 

Development of the project began with one of the executive producers, Doug Pray, working with Sylvia Vasquez, daughter of Chicano author Richard Vasquez, while Chaidez is a third generation Mexican-American whose own family’s immigration journey closely parallels the story told in Chicano.

“Chicano is just the first of many projects that we expect from Eva and Ben as we look to ramp up our slate of Latinx programming. As part of our studio family, they are valuable partners in helping us expand our commitment to compelling stories for underrepresented communities,” said Karey Burke, president, ABC Entertainment. “With Forest, Nina, Natalie and Doug also at the helm of this project, we know we have the perfect powerhouse team to bring this Mexican-American family’s story to life and cultivate the next generation of Latinx storytelling.”