Roday to Direct Two Episodes of Syfy’s Grindhouse-Inspired Drama “Blood Drive”

Posted on September 12, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

James Roday has extra Drive…

The 40-year-old Mexican American actor and former Psych star has been hired to direct two episodes of Blood Drive, Syfy’s 13-episode straight-to-series, grindhouse cinema-inspired drama.

Set in a near-apocalyptic future, the series revolves around Arthur Bailey (Alan Ritchson), the last good cop in Los Angeles, and Grace (Christina Ochoa), his dangerous femme fatale partner with an agenda of her own. When Grace is forced to partner with Arthur, she’s not thrilled, to say the least. But soon she might learn that this genuinely moral, nice guy is also a determined survivor, with whom she might have more in common than she had ever imagined.

The gruesome thriller is from UCP, and James Roland, who created the series and penned the pilot, will serve as co-executive producer.

The series is in production in South Africa.

Roday is best known for his eight-year run as the hyper-observant consultant detective Shawn Spencer on UCP’s and USA Network’s hit comedy Psych, for which he also wrote and directed several episodes.

He made his theatrical directorial debut with the horror-comedy Gravy and has directed TV series including Fox’s Rosewood and CBS’ Rush Hour.

USA Network Renews Torres’ “Suits” for a Seventh Season

Posted on August 4, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Gina Torres is suiting up for seven…

USA Network has renewed its longest-running original scripted series Suits, starring the 47-year-old Cuban American actress, for a 16-season seventh season for a premiere in 2017.

The news comes just three episodes into the legal drama’s Season 6 run and will push Suits through the 100-episode mark, the fifth USA scripted series to do that after Monk, Burn Notice, Psych and Royal Pains.

Suits, from Universal Cable Prods., continues to be a solid ratings performer, averaging more than 3 million total viewers and 1.1 million P18-49 in Live+3 in its sixth season to date. That is off slightly from Season 5.

The current season focuses on Mike (Patrick J. Adams) facing the tough reality of prison life, with his relationship with his fiancée Rachel (Meghan Markle), and the future of Pearson Specter Litt hanging in the balance. Gabriel Macht, Sarah Rafferty and Rick Hoffman also star.

The series, which airs Wednesdays at 9:00 pm, was created by Aaron Korsh.

USA Network to Premiere Season 6 of Torres’ “Suits” in July

Posted on May 7, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Gina Torres will be suiting up again this this summer…

USA Network will premiere Season 6 of Suits, starring the 46-year-old Cuban American actress, on July 13.

The drama series will return at 9:00 pm ET on Wednesday, July 13, serving as a lead-in for Season 2 of hacker drama Mr. Robot.

Everything changed last season for the nattily attired lawyers at Manhattan’s Pearson Specter Litt. The new season of Suits picks up after last year’s cliffhanger finale.

Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams), the not-so-legitimate associate of legendary attorney Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht), is in prison. He took a plea deal to spare his colleagues and is beginning a two-year stretch, confronted with the harsh realities of life inside.

Meanwhile, the once-bustling Pearson Specter Litt offices are a ghost town: The partners have defected, leaving Harvey, Jessica (Torres), Louis (Rick Hoffman), Donna (Sarah Rafferty) and Rachel (Meghan Markle) to pick up the pieces. But the firm’s troubles are far from over and they will have to deal with the fallout from Mike’s crime before they can even begin to rebuild.

Season 6 will feature recurring guest stars including Erik Palladino, Paul Schulze and Malcolm Jamal Warner.

Prinze Jr. to Host USA Network’s Competition Series “First Impressions”

Posted on April 3, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Freddie Prinze Jr. is ready to make a new impression…

The 40-year-old part-Puerto Rican actor will host USA Network’s weekly half-hour unscripted competition series First Impressions, featuring Saturday Night Live alum Dana Carvey.

Carvey serves as an “expert-in-residence” on the series that pits America’s best amateur impressionists against one another in a battle of celebrity impressions. Each week the studio audience crowns a winner.

Along with Carvey and Prinze, contestants will be coached through a variety of challenges by the likes of Steve Carell, Jay Leno, Kevin Nealon, Yvette Nicole Brown, Tom Arnold, Jon Lovitz and Kate Flannery.

The series is set to premiere on Tuesday, May 10, at 10:30 pm ET.

Prinze previously hosted WWE Raw.

Fresnadillo to Direct Amblin Entertainment’s “Haunted”

Posted on March 10, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Juan Carlos Fresnadillo is turning a new leaf…

The 48-year-old Spanish filmmaker is set to direct Amblin Entertainment’s Haunted, a film that is inspired by the 1898 Henry James gothic ghost story Turn of the Screw.

Penned by Chad Hayes and Carey Hayes, the film is considered a passion project for Steven Spielberg, who really wanted to make a horror film.

Fresnadillo’s breakout film was 28 Weeks Later; his Spanish-language directing debut was Intacto, this after he received an Oscar nomination for his short film Linked.

Lately Fresnadillo, a Goya Award winner for Best New Director, has been busy working in television: He directed the pilot Falling Water, which got picked up by USA Network and was done under his overall deal with Universal Cable Productions.

He’s prepping to next direct Prototype, a UCP pilot for a Syfy series that he’s will also executive produce.

Torres to Star in Title Role in ABC’s Drama Pilot “The Death of Eva Sofia Valdez”

Posted on March 5, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Death has knocked on Gina Torres’ door…

The 46-year-old Cuban American actress and Suits star has been cast as the lead in ABC’s drama pilot The Death of Eva Sofia Valdez.

Don’t despair! Torress’ casting shouldn’t impact her status on the popular USA drama series, which just ended its fifth season and has been renewed for Season 6. Torres is expected to remain a regular through season 6, fulfilling her six-year contract, with her character likely getting phased out.

Written by Cuban-American playwright Charise Castro Smith, The Death of Eva Sofia Valdez is described as a sexy revenge drama with supernatural elements and Macbeth with a Cuban twist.

It centers on Eva Sofia Valdez (Torres), an immigrant who rose from rags to riches and is a celebrated Miami entrepreneur and a champion for immigrant rights. But the success of this ” modern-day Havana-born Cleopatra” is fueled by an insatiable ambition that could destroy her family, a vendetta against the lover who betrayed her, and ghosts from the past who threaten to reveal the dark sacrifices Eva Sofia made to attain the American Dream.

Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters executive produce alongside Castro Smith for ABC Studios.

This would mark the first series lead role for the Firefly and 24 alumna who has been a standout on Suits as the smart and decisive Jessica Pearson. She also recurred on NBC’s Hannibal and ABC’s Revenge.

Zovatto to Star on AMC’s “Fear The Walking Dead”

Posted on January 30, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Daniel Zovatto isn’t afraid of his next project…

The 24-year-old Costa Rican actor has booked a recurring role on the upcoming second season of AMC’s Fear The Walking Dead.

As usual, details are being kept under wraps.

Set in Los Angeles, The Walking Dead companion series focuses on new characters and storylines.

Zovatto joins a cast that includes Kim Dickens, Cliff Curtis, Frank Dillane, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Lorenzo James Henrie, Ruben Blades, Mercedes Mason and Colman Domingo.

Season 2 premieres on April 10.

Zovatto recently finished shooting the USA Network pilot Brooklyn Animal Control. On the film side, he can next be seen in the Tristar/Ghosthouse pic Man In The Dark.

Zovatto to Star in USA Network’s Pilot “Brooklyn Animal Control”

Posted on November 12, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Daniel Zovatto is losin’ control…

The 24-year-old Costa Rican actor has signed on to appear in the USA Network pilot Brooklyn Animal Control, based on the IDW Publishing comic created by JT Petty.

It follows the inner workings of a secret subdivision of the New York Police Department that functions as social services for some of the city’s most unique citizens: werewolves.

Zovatto will portray Donovan Crean, an unemployed drunk and car thief in debt to all the wrong people whose world turns upside down with the startling revelation that his father, Brooklyn Animal Control officer John Crean (Stephen Graham), manages werewolves for a living. Accustomed to threats of jail time and broken knees, Donovan suddenly has to deal with the bewildering prospect of ending up gristle in a pile of werewolf scat.

Zovatto’s credits include appearances on Revenge and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., as well as roles in the films Laggies and It Follows.

USA Network Schedules the Return of Torres’ Drama Series “Suits” for January

Posted on November 4, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Gina Torres is suiting up soon…

USA Network has slotted a January premiere for the mid-season return of drama series Suits, starring the 45-year-old Cuban American actress.

The first of the remaining six episodes of the fifth season of Suits will debut Wednesday, January 27 at 10:00 pm PM.

In Suits, in the wake of his arrest for conspiracy to commit fraud, Mike (Patrick J. Adams) finds himself at the center of an investigation – led by a ruthless government prosecutor, Assistant US Attorney Anita Gibbs (Leslie Hope) – that threatens to bring down the whole firm.

Jaramillo to Star in USA Network’s Pilot “The Wilding”

Posted on October 13, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Antonio Jaramillo is going wild(ing)…

The Mexican actor, who will star opposite Jennifer Lopez in NBC’s drama series Shades of Blue, has booked a series regular role in The Wilding, USA Network’s two-hour backdoor pilot from Universal Cable Productions and executive producers Tim Kring and writer-creator Silka Luisa.

In The Wilding, disparate people across North Carolina realize they’re connected by the same haunting. Their only hope is a fractured family battling the repercussions of a teenage pregnancy, addiction and the discovery that they belong to a subset of people with supersensory abilities called Wildings.

Jaramillo will portray Carlos, Margaret’s (Jordana Spiro) husband. As a recovered drug addict and popular teacher, he connects with his troubled step-daughter Kayla in a way that others can’t.

Best known for his performance in Oliver Stone’s drug-themed film Savages, his previous television credits include Dallas, CSI: Cyber, Gang Related, The Mentalist and Burn Notice.

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