“What We Do In The Shadows” Star Harvey Guillén to Host “After the Shadows” Social Media Talk Show

Posted on August 31, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

There’s a little extra Shadows play in Harvey Guillén’s future…

The 31-year-old Mexican American actor and What We Do In The Shadows scene-stealer will host After The Shadows, a pre-taped, social media talk show kicking off at 11:00 pm PT immediately after the series’ season 3 premiere on September 2.

The episodes will be available via TheShadowsFX on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, as well on FX’s official YouTube channel.

Guillén, who portrays Guillermo De La Cruz on the FX series, will chat with cast, crew, and celebrity fans to discuss their love of the show and to share insight into the making of season 3.

The initial guest list includes Shadows stars Kayvan Novak and Kristen Schaal, as well as Anthony Atamanuik, Marissa Jaret Winokur, and set decorator Shayne Fox, with more to be announced.

New episodes of After the Shadows will be available immediately after subsequent episodes of the show throughout the season.

The two-episode season 3 premiere begins at 10:00 pm ET/PT with “The Prisoner” and “The Cloak of Duplication.”

Fans will finally found out what happened after the events of the season 2 finale that saw Guillermo kick vampire butt to save his ungrateful roommates. Will he finally embrace his familial connection to Van Helsing or will he keep begging after Nandor to turn him?

Returning series stars include Novak, Matt Berry, Mark Proksch, and Natasia Demetriou.

Trailer Released for Selena Gomez’s “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania”

Posted on July 5, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Selena Gomez is transform(ania)ing…

The first trailer has been released for the 28-year-old Mexican American actress/singer’s Hotel Transylvania: Transformania, the fourth and final film in the franchise that has bitten off $1.36 billion worldwide — thus far — with each of the three films grossing more than its predecessor.

Since the original film hit theaters in 2012, the Fang gang has expanded their lodging to include humans and welcomed a baby (2015’s Hotel Transylvania 2) and took a decidedly unrelaxing sea cruise (2018’s Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation).

Fast-forward to 2021, and Van Helsing (Jim Gaffigan) has perfected his mysterious invention that allows humans to become monsters. But the Monsterfication Ray goes haywire, and Drac (Brian Hull, replacing Adam Sandler) and his monster pals are all transformed into humans, and Johnny (Andy Samberg) becomes a monster. In their new mismatched bodies, Drac — now stripped of his powers, sporting a “dad bod” and making dad jokes — and his exuberant son-in-law Johnny, who’s loving life as a monster, must team up and race across the globe to find a cure before it’s too late. With help from Mavis (Gomez) and the human Drac Pack, the heat is on to find a way to switch themselves back before their transformations become permanent.

Kathryn Hahn, Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, David Spade, Asher Blinkoff, Brad Abrell, Fran Drescher and Molly Shannon also lend their voices to the film from first-time feature helmers Jennifer Kluska and Derek Drymon. Amos Vernon and Nunzio Randazzo and Genndy Tartakovsky penned the screenplay.

“In Hotel Transylvania: Transformania we wrap up the franchise with a bang as we see our familiar, beloved cast of monster characters in a hilarious new light when they accidentally transform themselves into humans,” helmers Kluska and Drymon said. “The bond between the mismatched comic pair of human Drac and monster Johnny is put to the test on a ridiculous road trip to South America while Mavis leads the humanized Drac Pack on an adventure to find the cure. At their heart, the Hotel Transylvania movies are about family – monster style. We think the final chapter will bring the story full circle in a thrilling fun theater experience for the whole family.”

After a few pandemic-forced release-date moves, the toon from Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation hits theaters Friday, October 1.

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.

Syfy Releases Trailer for Fifth & Final Season of Nicole Muñoz’s Horror Drama “Van Helsing”

Posted on March 13, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a last (dramatic) hurrah for Nicole Muñoz…

Syfy’s Van Helsing, starring the 26-year-old half-Spanish Canadian actress, will feature “the mother of all endings” when the show returns for its fifth and final season.

The horror drama will return for its last chapter at 10:00 pm on Friday, April 16.

In addition to Muñoz, who began starring as Jack in season 4, the series will see the return of cast members Kelly Overton, Jonathan Scarfe, Tricia Helfer, Aleks Paunovic, Kim Coates, Keeya King, Jesse Stanley and Jennifer Cheon Garcia for the 13-episode season.

In the final season of Van Helsing, Vanessa, Violet and Jack will risk everything to finally bring an end to the Dark One once and for all. The Van Helsings must figure out ways to escape and evade the various obstacles in their path to prevent them from their mission, leading to an epic final showdown between the Van Helsings and the Dark One. Who will win the battle between light and dark?

Van Helsing is produced by Nomadic Pictures, Dynamic Television and Echo Lake Entertainment.

Muñoz’s other credits include television roles on Defiance and Defying Gravity, as well as film roles in Tooth Fairy, Hardwired, and Center Stage: Turn It Up.

Anaya Starring in Matias Bize’s Drama “La memoria del agua”

Posted on September 2, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

She may be one of Pedro Almodovar’s muses, but Elena Anaya is earning raves for her work with another Latino director.

The 40-year-old Spanish actress is starring in La memoria del agua, the latest film by Chilean director Matias Bize.

Anaya describes the film as “a dark and profound – but also marvelous – journey” addressing the experience of life and love.

Known for her work with Almodovar, Anaya praised Bize and talked about the details of filming the project, which will begin showing this week in Chile.

Anaya has acted in films like Lucia y el sexo, Van Helsing and Dead Fish, but she’s best known for starring in two of Almodovar’s most highly acclaimed works: Talk to Her and The Skin I Live In.

But Anaya is now showing off her dramatic talent opposite Chilean actor Benjamin Vicuña in La memoria del agua, the latest work by the director of The Life of Fish, which won the Goya and Buñuel awards.

Anaya plays Amanda, a young woman who, after her son’s death, experiences an emotional crisis that distances her from her partner, Javier (Vicuña).

After contacting her to propose the project, Bize traveled to Madrid to discuss the details of the story and the characters with her.

“We spent several days speaking about our experiences in life regarding the issues that we would later deal with in the film,” Anaya said. “We spoke about the script, the characters, what Matias wanted to say … Later, Benjamin joined the project and made an impression on us with his generosity in sharing his experiences.”

Vicuña’s 6-year-old daughter Blanca died in 2012 from a brain hemorrhage.

The actress also emphasized the respect that prevailed among the director, actors and crew.

Anaya said that “each viewer will feel something different” upon watching the film, “but … they will find a careful, meticulous, subtle work and perhaps will manage to make the trip along with the characters, the dark and profound – but also marvelous – journey.”

Aguirre-Sacasa’s Brides of Dracula-Themed Project Lands Pilot Production Commitment at NBC

Posted on September 2, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

NBC is taking a bite out of Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s latest project…

The Nicaraguan-American playwright, screenwriter and comic book writer’s gothic soap opera drama with top television producer Greg Berlanti, Brides, has landed at NBC with a pilot production commitment.

Written by Aguirre-Sacasa, Brides is described as a sexy reimagining of Dracula as a family drama with a trio of strong, diverse female leads, a show about empowered women and the things they do to maintain wealth, prestige, legacy — and their non-traditional family.

The project hails from Warner Bros. Television and studio-based Berlanti Productions, with Aguirre-Sacasa, Berlanti and Sarah Schechter executive producing.

Known in popular culture as the Brides of Dracula, the three characters, originally introduced in Bram Stoker’s classic novel, are portrayed as beautiful and powerful female vampire “sisters” who reside with Count Dracula in his castle in Transylvania where they use their charm to seduce and bewitch men before preying on them. They manage to entrance Van Helsing too before he shakes off their spell and kills them. The characters are a staple in the Dracula mythology and have appeared in most Dracula screen adaptations, headlining the 1960 British movie The Brides Of Dracula.

Aguirre-Sacasa’s project imagines what would have happened if Van Helsing had not killed the three brides of Dracula. What if they survived for centuries and are now living in New York City?

Brides expands the relationship between Aguirre-Sacasa, chief creative officer of Archie Comics, and Berlanti. The two teamed last season for Riverdale, a live-action drama based on the characters from the Archie comics. The project, originally set up at Fox, recently relocated to the CW where it is in active development.

Aguirre-Sacasa previously worked for Marvel Comics, did stints on HBO’s Big Love and Looking and Fox’s Glee, and wrote the feature remakes of Carrie and The Town That Dreaded Sundown as well as the Broadway-bound stage musical adaptation of American Psycho.

Orci In Talks to Write the Next Star Trek Film…

Posted on August 6, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Roberto Orci will be trekking into familiar territory…

The Mexican-American film and television writer and producer and his business partner Alex Kurtzman are in talks to pen the next Star Trek outing for Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions.

Orci and Kurtzman co-wrote the previous two installments for director J.J. Abrams, who is in negotiations to produce Star Trek 3 through his Bad Robot production company. Damon Lindelof also shared writing credit on this summer’s Star Trek Into Darkness. Sources say Lindelof will not be back for the third chapter of the rebooted franchise.

Though the project is shrouded in secrecy, much like Star Trek Into Darkness was, reports have surfaced in recent weeks that the studio would tap new writers. Rumors swirled that other young writing teams were being courted for their takes. But Paramount shifted gears recently and is returning to the duo that breathed new life into the moribund franchise. The tricky part was getting Kurtzman and Orci to find a gap in their schedules to write. In addition to their growing TV empire, they have been busy on the film front as part of their two-year first-look deal with Universal Pictures that has them rebooting The Mummy and Van Helsing.

The next Star Trek film is untitled and unscheduled, but Paramount and Skydance are eager to continue the franchise, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2016. Stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Zoe Saldana are expected to return.

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