Kid Cudi Launches Production & Music Management Company ‘Mad Solar’

Kid Cudi is expanding his entertainment empire…

The 36-year-old half-Mexican American Grammy-winning recording artist and actor, whose real name is Scott Mescudi, has partnered with Dennis Cummings and Karina Manashil to launch the production and music management company Mad Solar with the backing of Bron, which provides corporate back office and production support, including financing, marketing, and sales.

Kid Cudi

“Beyond excited to be launching my production company Mad Solar and partnering with Bron, whose creative vision and storytelling has transformed the industry,” Mescudi said. “I am so very proud of the slate that we are developing and can’t WAIT for you all to see what we got cookin’.”

Mad Solar is producing the upcoming Netflix animated series Entergalactic, which Mescudi co-created alongside Kenya Barris. Based on original music by Mescudi, the series, which Mescudi writes, executive produces and stars in, follows a young man on his journey to discover love.

Additionally, Mad Solar has teamed with A24 and Bron Studios on the horror film X. Written and directed by Ti West, X stars Mia Goth, Mescudi and Jenna Ortega. Mescudi is an executive producer on the film, which will begin production early 2021.

“Scott Mescudi’s growth as a creative and an entrepreneur has been impressive,” said Aaron L. Gilbert, Bron chairman. “For Bron, the strategic relationship with Mad Solar is key in our efforts to support the entertainment industry’s top creatives, as well as expand Bron’s access to the best in class music and sports talent through Mad Solar’s management division.”

Mescudi can be seen in Season 3 of HBO’s Westworld and Nick Jarecki’s indie feature Dreamland opposite Gary Oldman. He also had a key supporting role in MGM’s Bill & Ted Face The Music and played one of the leads of Luca Guadagnino’s HBO series We Are Who We Are.

Gina Torres to Star on Season Two of Fox’s Drama Series “9-1-1: Lone Star”

Gina Torres is Texas bound…

The 51-year-old Cuban American actress has been cast as a series regular for the second season of Fox’s 9-11 spinoff series 9-1-1: Lone Star.

Gina Torres

Torres, best known for her role as Jessica Pearson on USA Network’s Suitsand Pearson, will star opposite Liv Tyler and Rob Lowe on the series.

9-1-1: Lone Star hails from 9-1-1 creators/executive producers Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Tim Minear.

Set in Austin, it follows Owen (Lowe), a sophisticated New York firefighter who, along with his son, relocates to the Texas capital and must try to balance saving those who are at their most vulnerable with solving the problems in his own life.

Torres will play Paramedic Captain Tommy Vega, who was at the top of her game when she hung up her uniform to raise her twin daughters. For eight years life was great, until COVID-19 changed her life. With her husband’s restaurant going under, Tommy has no choice but to re-enter the workforce to support her family. Though it breaks her heart to be apart from her little girls, Tommy will show the world that no matter how much time has passed, when she puts on that uniform, she’s still a boss.

The role reunites Torres and Minear, who worked together on Fox’s sci-fi drama series Firefly.

“We are so excited to be expanding our 9-1-1-verse with the addition of Gina Torres,” said Minear. “I’ve been dying to write for her again ever since Firefly. Gina brings warmth, intelligence and command to everything she does. 2020 is finally looking up.”

9-1-1: Lone Star is produced by 20th Century Television in association with Ryan Murphy Television and Brad Falchuk Teley-Vision.

Season 2 is scheduled to begin production in Los Angeles later this fall for a premiere in early 2021 as part of the network’s midseason schedule.

Torres earned an ALMA Award, an Imagen Award and the National Hispanic Media Coalition’s Award for Outstanding Performance in a Television Series for her role as Jessica Pearson.

She most recently was cast as the lead of the Dracula reimagining drama pilot The Bridesat ABC. The Alias and Angel alumna also did an arc on HBO’s Westworld.

Izabella Alvarez to Star in the CW Drama Pilot “The Republic of Sarah”

Izabella Alvarez has pledged allegiance to the republic

The 16-year-old Latina actress will star opposite Luke Mitchell and Stella Baker in the CW drama pilot The Republic of Sarah.

Izabella Alvarez

Alvarez joins a list of cast additions that includes Nia Holloway and Hope Lauren.

Hailing from Jeffrey Paul KingMarc WebbCBS Television Studios and studio-based Fulwell 73The Republic of Sarahpilot will be directed and executive produced by Kat Candler.

Here’s the description of the pilot: Faced with the destruction of her town at the hands of a greedy mining company, rebellious high school history teacher Sarah Cooper (Baker) utilizes an obscure cartographical loophole to declare independence. Now Sarah must lead a young group of misfits as they attempt to start their own country from scratch.

Alvarez will play Maya. After her mother’s imprisonment in Los Angeles, Maya is sent to Greylock to live with her estranged father. She struggles to adapt to life in rural New England at first, but with some help from her mentor, Sarah, she takes the first steps toward finding herself in her new home.

Alvarez’s breakout came in a recurring role in season 4 of Shameless. She went on to recur in Westworld, as well as appearances in Disney XD’s Walk the Prank, ABC’s Raised by Wolves and Disney+ family comedy Magic Camp. She currently voices the lead spunky character, Ronnie Anne Santiago, in Nickelodeon’s The Casagrandes, and will next be seen on the big screen in her first leading role and her debut feature Collisions. 

HBO to Premiere Season 3 of Rodrigo Santoro’s “Westworld” in March

Rodrigo Santorois heading West(world) this March…

HBO has set Sunday, March 15 at 9:00 pm for the release of the eight-episode third season of its Emmy-winning drama series Westworldstarring the 44-year-old Brazilian actor.

Rodrigo Santoro

In addition to Santoro, who portrays Hector Escaton, the returning cast includes

Evan Rachel Woodas Dolores, Thandie Newtonas Maeve, Ed Harris as the Man in Black, Jeffrey Wrightas Bernard, Tessa Thompsonas Charlotte, Luke Hemsworthas Stubbs and Simon Quartermanas Lee Sizemore.

New cast members this season include Aaron PaulVincent Cassel,Lena WaitheScott MescudiMarshawn LynchJohn Gallagher Jr., and Michael and Tommy Flanagan.

Created for television by Jonathan Nolanand Lisa Joy, and based on the film written by Michael Crichton, Westworld is a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the birth of a new form of life on Earth.

The theme for the new season is “New World” and at Comic-Con in July, Nolan said one of the inspirations for the new season was Blade Runner, though he noted he wanted to do it differently.

Nolan said they went out in the world to find some beautiful places to shoot to capture the show’s future. “Dystopia can look pretty beautiful in the world. Just because the world is corrupt inside, doesn’t mean it can’t be smothered over and pretty. We wanted to find a version of dystopia that we hadn’t seen before,” Nolan said at Comic-Con.

The first two seasons of Westworld received a combined 42 Emmy nominations. The second season’s 20 noms resulted in three wins, including: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for Newton, Outstanding Makeup for a Single-Camera Series (Non-Prosthetic) and Outstanding Hairstyling for a Single-Camera Series.

Tessa Thompson to Star In & Produce the QCode Podcast “The Left Right Game”

Tessa Thompson is getting in the game

The 36-year-old half-Afro-Panamanian and part-Mexican American actress will star in and produce podcast The Left Right Game, the latest fiction pod from QCode.

Tessa Thompson,

The cast will also include W. Earl BrownAml Ameen, Dayo OkeniyiInanna SarkisColleen Camp, Robin BartlettJohn BillingsleyJojo T GibbsBrian Greenberg and Pat Healy.

Thompson plays Alice, an idealistic young journalist who tries to make a name for herself at a new job by following a group of paranormal explorers, obsessed with a seemingly harmless pastime known as the Left/Right Game. The journey takes her into a supernatural otherworld that she and the other members of the expedition cannot handle or survive.

The podcast, which is in post-production, was created by Jack Anderson and is based on his original Internet blog of the same name.

The 10-episode series will premiere in a longer format than QCode’s past projects, with episodes ranging from 40-45 minutes. They will be available on AppleSpotify and other podcast platforms in February 2020.

“With sequels and remakes continuing to be such a big media focus, there is a clear gap in the market for original storytelling. We are excited to be partnering with brilliant filmmakers, actors, and sound teams to create fresh, original stories for your ears,” said former CAA agent Herting, president of QCode.

Thompson’s upcoming projects include the third season of Westworld, the Disney reboot Lady and the Tramp and Rebecca Hall’sdirectorial debut Passing.

Natalie Martinez to Star in the Sci-Fi Thriller “Reminiscence”

Natalie Martinez is reminiscing…

The 35-year-old Cuban American actresshas joined the cast of Reminiscence, the sci-fi thriller being helmed by Westworld EP Lisa Joy in her first directorial outing.

Natalie Martinez

Martinez will star opposite new cast additions Angela SarafyanOscar nominee Marina De Taviraand Cliff Curtis in the film, joining previously announced stars Hugh JackmanRebecca FergusonThandie Newtonand Daniel Wu.

The Warner Bros. film is a mind bending noir love story set in the dystopic near future of a nighttime, super heated flooded global warmed Miami.

Joy wrote the screenplay and will produce with her Kilter Film partner Jonathan Nolan

The film is a co-production of Kilter Films, Michael De Luca Productionsand FilmNation Entertainment.

Martinez, who appeared inInto The Dark, can currently be seen starring in Netflilx’s miniseries The I-Land

de Tavira appeared in Alfonso Cuarón’s highly acclaimed drama Roma, which she earned an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress. 

Clifton Collins Jr. Lands Recurring Role on Hulu’s “Veronica Mars” Reboot

Clifton Collins Jr. is a (hit)man with a plan…

The 48-year-old Mexican American actor has landed a recurring role in Hulu’s eight-episode Veronica Mars revival.

Clifton Collins Jr. 

The reboot, set to premiere in 2019, returns star Kristen Bell, Enrico Colantoni and Jason Dohringto the series that ran for three seasons on UPN and theCW from 2004-2007.

In the revival, spring breakers are getting murdered in Neptune, thereby decimating the seaside town’s lifeblood tourist industry. After Mars Investigations is hired by the parents of one of the victims to find their son’s killer, Veronica (Bell) is drawn into an epic mystery that pits the enclave’s wealthy elites, who would rather put an end to the month-long bacchanalia, against a working class that relies on the cash influx that comes with being the West Coast’s answer to Daytona Beach.

Collins will play Alonzo, a mid-level hitman for a Mexican cartel. Because of his facility with English, he’s chosen by his boss to travel to Neptune to take out whoever killed his wife’s nephew. The more time Alonzo spends in the U.S. the more doubts creep in about his chosen career field, particularly when he falls hard for a local girl.

The Emmy-nominated Collins stars as Lawrence on HBO’s Westworld. He recurred on HBO’s Ballers and most recently appeared in feature Super Troopers 2.

Rodrigo Santoro to Star in Netflix’s Still-Untitled Sci-Fi Thriller

It’s a thrilling time for Rodrigo Santoro

The 43-year-old Brazilian actor has joined the supporting cast of Netflix’s yet-to-be-titled sci-fi thriller.

Rodrigo Santoro

Jamie FoxxJoseph Gordon-Levitt, and Dominique Fishback are set as leads in the film, which will be directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman.

Other supporting cast members include Allen Maldonado,  Amy Landecker, Colson Baker, aka Machine Gun Kelly, Andrene Ward-Hammond and Kyanna Simpson.

Mattson Tomlin penned the screenplay. Filmmakers are staying mum on plot details.

Santoro, best known for his portrayal of Persian King Xerxes in the movie 300 and its sequel 300: Rise of an Empire, was most recently cast in theHulupilot Reprisal. His other credits include HBO’s Westworld.

Maldonado co-starred in the Sony film, Superfly and Netflix’s First Match.

Ortiz to Guest Star on TBS’ “The Guest Book”

John Ortiz has signed in…

The 48-year-old Puerto Rican actor will guest star on TBSThe Guest Book, the new 10-episode comedy series from My Name Is Earl’s Greg Garcia.

John Ortiz

The Guest Book emerged from Garcia’s habit of writing fictitious stories in the guest books of various rental cabins in an effort to freak out the next renters. Now he is bringing some of those stories to life on screen centering on the vacation home Froggy Cottage and its visitors. While the house and cast of characters living in this small mountain town remain the same, each episode will feature a different set of vacationing guests.

The anthology-style show, written by Garcia and executive produced by him and Alix Jaffe, will premiere in August.

It will star Kellie Martin (Army Wives), Charlie Robinson (Hart of Dixie), Aloma Wright (Suits), Carly Jibson (Broadway’s Hairspray), Lou Wilson (Tween Fest), Garret Dillahunt (The Mindy Project), Laura Bell Bundy (Scream Queens) and Eddie Steeples (My Name Is Earl).

Martin will play Officer Kimberly Leahy, who serves on the police force in the small mountain town of Mount Trace. Robinson is Wilfrid, an easygoing, friendly gentleman who manages a group of mountain rental cottages with his wife, Emma, played by recurring guest star Wright. Jibson is Vivian, a tough, strong-willed woman who runs a bikini bar called Chubbys with her stepson Frank, played by Wilson.

In addition to Ortiz, other guest stars include Danny Pudi (Community), Jenna Fischer (The Office), Tommy Dewey (The Mindy Project), Lauren Lapkus (Orange Is the new Black), Michaela Watkins (Casual), Mary Lynn Rajskub (24), Michael Rapaport (Sully), Kate Micucci (Raising Hope), Jaime Pressly (My Name Is Earl), Stockard Channing (The Good Wife), Andrew J. West (The Walking Dead), David Zayas (Gotham), Shannon Woodward (Westworld), Margo Martindale (The Good Wife) and Stephnie Weir (The Comedians).

Collins to Star in HBO’s Sci-Fi Western Series “Westworld”

Clifton Collins Jr. is heading West(world)

The 45-year-old Mexican and Spanish American actor has joined the cast of HBO’s series Westworld, a television adaptation of the 1973 sci-fi western film that was set in a high-tech theme park that was staffed by robots who authentically replicated Roman, cowboy and medieval times.

Clifton Collins Jr.

After the park’s computer system breaks down, the robots ran amok and guests found themselves stalked by a gunslinging robot, played by Yul Brynner.

Collins will star opposite Ed HarrisAnthony Hopkins, Jeffrey Wright, Evan Rachel WoodJames Marsden and Thandie Newton in the reboot of the 1973 pic.

Collins, who starred in Pacific Rim, will play Lawrence, a sly criminal who really knows his way around Westworld.

Scheduled to air in 2016, Westworld hails from J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, Jonathan Nolan, writer Lisa Joy plus Warner Bros. Televison and Jerry Weintraub Productions.