Spring is here and a lot has happened since the new year began! So here’s a fun roundup of news, features, Netflix & Hulu original programming, TV mini series & documentaries and more that you may have missed!
News
Director, Ryan Coogler (Creed, Fruitvale Station) has made history as the first ever Creative Talent Ambassador for Warner Brothers in the U.K. – Indiewire
Director, Ava DuVernay (Selma) is Set to Direct Disney’s A Wrinkle In Time – Deadline
Film Independent Has Partnered With the U.S. Department of State to Launch the Global Media Makers Program – Film Independent
Fandango Acquired Rotten Tomatoes and Flixster – /Film
Vimeo Announced It Will Fund At Least Five Female-Helmed Films In 2016 – Deadline
Moviefone Founder, Andrew Jarecki Launched an iOS Video Editing App KnowMe with Backing From J.J. Abrams – Variety
Hulu is Now the Exclusive Streaming Home for IFC Films’ Documentaries – Indiewire
The First Black Female Owned Comic Book Store-Coffee Shop, Amalgam Comics & Coffeehouse, Inc. on the East Coast Has Opened in Philly – Philly.com
21st Century Fox Announced It Will Cut $250M From Its Film & TV Businesses. – Deadline
An 11-year-old Jersey Girl Launched #1000BlackGirlBooks – Philly.com
A 106-year old woman went to the White House and met the President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. – 6ABC
Ryan Murphy Launched the Half Foundation with 20th Century Fox to Fill All of His Shows With 50% Women, POC, and LGBT Directors – IndieWire
Digital Anthology Series For Emerging Female Filmmakers Has Been Backed By Sundance Institute – Deadline
Mr. Robot, Spotlight, & More Won at the WGA Awards – Deadline
The indie North Carolina bookstore, Once Upon A Time closed after 23 years. Mary and Stan Collins cofounded the store though after the sudden death of Stan Collins, the store has also met its end. – Publisher’s Weekly
Jessica Chastain Launched Her Own Production Company, Freckle Films – Variety
Writer, Angela Thomas who wrote a YA novel, The Hate U Give inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement was at the center of a 13 Publishing House Auction in Which Balzer + Bray Won and The Hunger Games actress, Amandla Stenberg Will Star in the movie adaptation – Publisher’s Weekly & Variety
Jessica Chastain, Freida Pinto, Queen Latifah & More Launched A Production Company To Help Female Empowerment In TV And Film – Deadline
Emma Watson is Taking A Year Off From Acting – Paper Mag
One of My Favorite Authors, Bestselling Author, Harper Lee (To Kill A Mockingbird) Passed Away – GalleyCat
“According to ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, more than half of all banned books are by authors of color or reflect issues of diversity.” – GalleyCat
You Can Finally Get Morgan Freeman to Narrate Your Commute – Gizmodo
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Has Launched A Muslim Children’s Book Imprint – Simon & Schuster
Ms. Marvel by writer G. Willow Wilson and artist Adrian Alphona won the second annual Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics, presented at the 2016 Long Beach Comic Expo – Marvel
Netflix Caused 50% of U.S. TV Viewing Drop in 2015 (Study) – Variety
YouTube Funds Women Video Creators, Teams With U.N. and Geena Davis – Variety
The Second Wachowski Sibling Was Forced to Come Out as Transgender – Variety
Amazon Studios Will Enact the 90 Day Window After Theater Release – /Film
Meanwhile… Peter Jackson Has Given His Support to The Screening Room Home Viewing Experience. Actually, Many Have Come Out In Support & Against It. What Side Are You On? – IndieWire & Deadline & /Film
J.K. Rowling Showed Up at A Library Book Club! Those Lucky Ducks!!! – GalleyCat
The Walking Dead Officially Has Its Own Permanent Attraction at Universal Studios Hollywood! – Variety
Blackfish killer whale, Tilikum’s Health is Declining… – NPR
But Blackfish Continues to Pack a Punch! SeaWorld Will End Killer Whale Shows At Its San Diego Park By 2017 – Guardian
Virtual Reality Storytelling Startup Visionary VR Raises $6 Million – Variety
Quit Trying to Make MoviePass Happen… Or Not? Here’s a Study From Variety
The Author of The Martian Wrote Ready Player One Fan Fiction, and Now It’s Canon – i09
After Leaving Netflix, Doctor Who is Now Heading to Amazon Prime Under Exclusive BBC Pact – Variety
Beloved Author, Beverly Cleary Turns 100 on April 12th & NBC is Celebrating Early – NBC
The cast of All That Has Reunited Once Again. This Time, For TV. – All That Facebook
Disney Has Threatened to Stop Filming in Georgia If an Anti-Gay Bill Becomes Law – LA Times
Movie Updates: Zombieland 2 is still in the works which is the best news ever because Zombieland is one of my favorite zombie movies. Emily Browning (Sucker Punch) has been cast in the Starz adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods.
TV Updates: Superstore (NBC) was renewed for a Season 2 which is very exciting as it’s one of my favorite new comedies of the TV season. The Magicians over on Syfy has been renewed for season two! So if you still haven’t read the book this is based on, now you can read it and catch up on season one before season two! USA renewed Colony for a second season which I am very excited about as it was one of my highly anticipated freshman series and it did not disappoint so I’m very excited for more! Gotham (Fox) was renewed for Season 3 and while I can’t say I’ve been watching the second half of Season 2, I might catch up for season three. Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, How to Get Away With Murder, Once Upon A Time, Quantico, Agents of SHIELD, The Middle, Modern Family, Blackish, & Fresh Off the Boat among others were all renewed over at ABC! The CW renewed all 11 of its dramas, including Arrow, The Flash, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural, iZombie, Jane the Virgin, & The 100. Meanwhile, Switched at Birth (Freeform) has been cancelled, making the upcoming shortened fifth season its last.
The Fifth Beatle, George Martin passed away. Sylvia Anderson (Co-creator & Voice of Lady Penelope on Thunderbirds) passed away. Phife Dawg of A Tribe Called Quest passed away. David Smyrl (Sesame Street) passed away. Joe Alaskey, the voice of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck passed away. The dog we know and love as Bruiser Woods (Legally Blonde) passed away.
Features
Variety’s Spotlight on Actress & Playwright, Danai Gurira (The Walking Dead, Eclipsed on Broadway)
On IndieWire, Read the Very Personal 5 Page Letter That Room Director, Lenny Abrahamson Wrote to Author, Emma Donoghue in An Attempt to Direct the Now Oscar-Nominated Film
Deadline Interviewed Screenwriter, Meg LeFauve (Inside Out, Captain Marvel)
These Are the Faces of the Women Both Behind & In Front of the Camera Who Made Their Way to Sundance – IndieWire
Black Sundance: 10 Films Not to Miss – Ebony
IndieWire Also Put the Spotlight on 11 Outstanding Cinematographers Who Have Never Won An Oscar
“If you try to write the skin (or, you know, the top layer, the polish) before you have your bones, it will never hold together.” – Victoria Schwab In An Interview Over On Chuck Wendig‘s Blog
Huffington Post Put the Spotlight on 6 Influencers Who Help To Highlight The Power Of Black Representation
What It’s Really Like to Work in Hollywood* (*If you’re not a straight white man.) – New York Times
Spielberg in 30 Shots – Vimeo
Native Actors Deserve To Be Seen – A Lenny Letter From Julia Jones
Not a Hit, Not Yet a Cult Classic: Shonda Rhimes on the Making of ‘Crossroads’ – Broadly
The Walk VFX Breakdown: How the Twin Towers Were Brought Back to NYC – /Film
Emma Watson Interviewed Lin Manuel Miranda – The Leaky Cauldron
Documentaries
Lilly Singh’s A Trip to Unicorn Island (YouTube Red)
More Than Gold: Jesse Owens and the 1936 Berlin Olympics – (NBC Sports)
Body Team 12, Ebola: The Doctors’ Story, Orphans of Ebola (HBO)
Michael Jackson’s Journey from Motown to Off the Wall – (Showtime)
TV Movies
Toni Braxton: Unbreak My Heart (Lifetime)
Manson’s Lost Girls (Lifetime)
High School Musical: 10 Year Reunion Commentary (Disney)
Notable TV Mini Series
Mercy Street – PBS (6 Episodes)
The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story – FX (10 Episodes)
War and Peace – A&E, History and Lifetime (8 Episodes)
Notable Live Musicals
Grease Live – Fox
Notable Netflix + Hulu Debuts
11.22.63 – Hulu (An 8-Part Event Series)
Chelsea Does – Netflix (4 Part Documentary Style Series)
Fuller House – Netflix (Spinoff Series)
My Beautiful Broken Brain – Netflix (Documentary)