Exclusive: Amazon MGM Studios has tapped Taylor Chukwu (The Mysterious Benedict Society) to script The Truth About Mrs. Claus, a new film based on the same-name book by Meena Harris that is currently in development.
The story takes place at the North Pole, where every elf dreams of being part of Santa’s workshop. But only a select few get to know an amazing secret: Mrs. Claus is the true force behind Christmas. Through the eyes of a precocious elf girl who dreams of something more, we set off on a journey to meet the world’s most brilliant and secretive entrepreneur.
Hillman Grad Productions and Phenomenal Media will produce, with Tori Sampson executive producing. Rishi Rajani, Rocio Melara, and Travis Ing will oversee for Hillman Grad.
Prior to adaptating The Truth About Mrs. Clause, Chukwu served as a staff writer on Disney+’s series The Mysterious Benedict Society, based...
The story takes place at the North Pole, where every elf dreams of being part of Santa’s workshop. But only a select few get to know an amazing secret: Mrs. Claus is the true force behind Christmas. Through the eyes of a precocious elf girl who dreams of something more, we set off on a journey to meet the world’s most brilliant and secretive entrepreneur.
Hillman Grad Productions and Phenomenal Media will produce, with Tori Sampson executive producing. Rishi Rajani, Rocio Melara, and Travis Ing will oversee for Hillman Grad.
Prior to adaptating The Truth About Mrs. Clause, Chukwu served as a staff writer on Disney+’s series The Mysterious Benedict Society, based...
- 12/14/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Author Deesha Philyaw, whose short story collection The Secret Lives of Church Ladies earned a Pen/Faulkner Award for Fiction and was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction, has signed with Curate Management.
Recently, Philyaw sold her next two books to HarperCollins imprint Mariner Books in a 7-figure deal, with her novel The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman, which centers on a megachurch leader, due out in 2025. This will be followed by Girl, Look, which is described by the publisher as a “vivid snapshot of the interior lives of Black women across generations.”
In Hollywood, Philyaw, along with playwright Tori Sampson, will adapt Church Ladies for television, with the project set up at HBO Max with Tessa Thompson executive producing.
Philyaw joins a Curate author clients roster that includes Station Eleven author Emily St. John Mandel, Oscar Hokeah (Calling for the Blanket Dance), and Chantal V.
Recently, Philyaw sold her next two books to HarperCollins imprint Mariner Books in a 7-figure deal, with her novel The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman, which centers on a megachurch leader, due out in 2025. This will be followed by Girl, Look, which is described by the publisher as a “vivid snapshot of the interior lives of Black women across generations.”
In Hollywood, Philyaw, along with playwright Tori Sampson, will adapt Church Ladies for television, with the project set up at HBO Max with Tessa Thompson executive producing.
Philyaw joins a Curate author clients roster that includes Station Eleven author Emily St. John Mandel, Oscar Hokeah (Calling for the Blanket Dance), and Chantal V.
- 9/22/2023
- by Mia Galuppo
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Updated with Ctg response: Playwright Jeremy O. Harris said Tuesday that he intends to pull his Tony-nominated Slave Play from the upcoming lineup at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles due to the theater company’s dearth of scheduled productions by female playwrights – a scarcity acknowledged by the management of Center Theatre Group, which operates the Taper.
In a tweet that reproduced an email sent to executives of L.A.’s Center Theatre Group, Harris wrote, “As a playwright who holds dear the principles of both inclusion it was a shock to realize that this season was programmed with only 1 woman across all theatres. As an Angeleno and a lover of theatre I think Los Angeles audiences deserve an equitable showing of the playwrights working in the US right now.
“I’ve spoken to my team,” he continues, “and would like to begin the process of removing slave play...
In a tweet that reproduced an email sent to executives of L.A.’s Center Theatre Group, Harris wrote, “As a playwright who holds dear the principles of both inclusion it was a shock to realize that this season was programmed with only 1 woman across all theatres. As an Angeleno and a lover of theatre I think Los Angeles audiences deserve an equitable showing of the playwrights working in the US right now.
“I’ve spoken to my team,” he continues, “and would like to begin the process of removing slave play...
- 10/5/2021
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Three Women and Hunters writer Tori Sampson will co-create HBO Max’s Tessa Thompson-produced adaptation of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies.
Sampson will work with Deesha Philyaw, the author behind the book, and the pair will write and exec produce the drama series project, which is in development.
It comes after Deadline revealed that that the Westworld star had set up her own production company Viva Maude, with a first-look deal at HBO and HBO Max and had set The Secret Lives of Church Ladies adaptation as one of the first projects that she has in the works with the streamer.
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies was published in September 2020 and was a finalist for the 2020 National Book Award for Fiction. It contains nine stories about Black women, church, and sexuality.
The short story collection explores the raw and tender places where Black women and girls...
Sampson will work with Deesha Philyaw, the author behind the book, and the pair will write and exec produce the drama series project, which is in development.
It comes after Deadline revealed that that the Westworld star had set up her own production company Viva Maude, with a first-look deal at HBO and HBO Max and had set The Secret Lives of Church Ladies adaptation as one of the first projects that she has in the works with the streamer.
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies was published in September 2020 and was a finalist for the 2020 National Book Award for Fiction. It contains nine stories about Black women, church, and sexuality.
The short story collection explores the raw and tender places where Black women and girls...
- 10/5/2021
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Tori Sampson has been tapped to pen the biopic 61, which is being developed by Disney Studios’ live-action team for Disney+. Chris Paul and his brother C.J. are producing. No director or talent is attached at this time.
Announced this past December at the Disney Investor Day presentation, the pic is based on the NBA superstar’s moving story of family, legacy and destiny that helped make him who he is today. Paul also recently closed a two-book deal with Macmillan for him to tell this story in book form. He will be writing it with Michael Wilbon, with both an adult and kids version planned. Those will be released sometime this fall.
As for Sampson, the up-and-coming writer has been busy, most recently coming on as a writer on the series Three Women for Showtime. She also recently worked on the Amazon series Hunters and Solos and...
Announced this past December at the Disney Investor Day presentation, the pic is based on the NBA superstar’s moving story of family, legacy and destiny that helped make him who he is today. Paul also recently closed a two-book deal with Macmillan for him to tell this story in book form. He will be writing it with Michael Wilbon, with both an adult and kids version planned. Those will be released sometime this fall.
As for Sampson, the up-and-coming writer has been busy, most recently coming on as a writer on the series Three Women for Showtime. She also recently worked on the Amazon series Hunters and Solos and...
- 9/27/2021
- by Justin Kroll
- Deadline Film + TV
(Warning: This post contains spoilers for the “Sasha” episode of Amazon Prime Video’s “Solos.”)
On Friday, Amazon Prime Video launched its seven-part anthology series “Solos,” a show that, as the streaming service puts it, “explores the strange, beautiful, heart-breaking, hilarious, wondrous truths of what it means to be human.” One of those stories is led by Uzo Aduba, and it’s perhaps the most poignant episode of the series, created by “Hunters” mastermind David Weil, due to its central subject: A woman who has spent 25 years locked in a high-tech home to protect herself from a global pandemic.
“This was the idea of, ‘Is everything Ok?’ Of us doing a more extreme version of, perhaps, where we are right now as we are starting to see guidelines being lifted,” Aduba told TheWrap about the parallels between the series and the Covid-19 pandemic. “That hesitancy you feel from various people...
On Friday, Amazon Prime Video launched its seven-part anthology series “Solos,” a show that, as the streaming service puts it, “explores the strange, beautiful, heart-breaking, hilarious, wondrous truths of what it means to be human.” One of those stories is led by Uzo Aduba, and it’s perhaps the most poignant episode of the series, created by “Hunters” mastermind David Weil, due to its central subject: A woman who has spent 25 years locked in a high-tech home to protect herself from a global pandemic.
“This was the idea of, ‘Is everything Ok?’ Of us doing a more extreme version of, perhaps, where we are right now as we are starting to see guidelines being lifted,” Aduba told TheWrap about the parallels between the series and the Covid-19 pandemic. “That hesitancy you feel from various people...
- 5/21/2021
- by Jennifer Maas
- The Wrap
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